Son's Friend's Mother Misunderstands Presence with Her Husband
Court Recognizes It as Emotional Abuse Behavior
A woman in her 50s who implied her mother's affair to a minor was found guilty of child abuse.
According to the legal community on the 21st, Judge Lee Kyung-sun of the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 16 sentenced Kim, a housewife in her 50s who appealed against a summary order on charges of child abuse under the Child Welfare Act, to a fine of 3 million won on the 17th.
Kim, who resides in Jongno-gu, Seoul, called the victim, A (15), a friend of her son, at around 1:47 p.m. on January 30, 2021, and said, "Your mom and my husband are together, so I think they can't be reached," and asked, "Do you know this is an affair?" This stemmed from a misunderstanding that her husband and A's mother were together.
Ten minutes later, Kim called A again and urged, "Your friend's dad hasn't come home," and "I heard your mom got divorced, but since they are together, I think they can't be reached. Call your mom quickly."
In the ruling, the court stated, "Considering the defendant's attitude and behavior toward the victim child at the time, the degree of the acts, the victim child's reactions to the acts, and changes in the victim child's condition before and after the acts, emotional abuse is recognized."
In fact, A received information about her biological mother's divorce and affair rumors three times over about 15 minutes from Kim, causing her significant mental shock. As a result, trust in her mother was broken, and the mother-daughter relationship deteriorated, with A refusing to communicate for a while.
The court explained, "The intent of emotional child abuse is recognized when the perpetrator implicitly acknowledges the risk or possibility that their actions may cause harm to the child's mental health and development."
It added, "The victim child expressed distress, the defendant avoided responsibility toward the victim child's mother, and the defendant's visit to the victim child's home to provoke anxiety were factors negatively affecting sentencing."
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