Daegu District Prosecutors' Office Indicts Social Worker Without Detention
Forcing Children Outside at Night Without Dressing Them
Four social workers at a facility for people with disabilities in Gyeongsan have been indicted without detention on charges of abusing underage disabled individuals.
The Daegu District Prosecutors' Office's Women and Children Crime Investigation Division (Chief Prosecutor Jang Jin-young) announced on the 19th that four social workers, including A, were indicted without detention on charges of abusing a teenage disabled person under their care (violation of the Special Act on the Punishment of Child Abuse Crimes, etc.).
They are accused of abusing the victim, B (16), at a facility for people with severe disabilities from May 2020 to April 2021.
According to the investigation, A and others turned on water over victim B’s face for about 1 to 2 minutes after lifting him onto the sink. They also shook B as if to throw him into a pit. Additionally, they forced the minor B to go outside without clothes for about 10 minutes at night.
The prosecution re-investigated all witnesses present at the time of the crime, as B had difficulty testifying on his own. They also supplemented related materials such as attendance records to secure additional evidence for some charges before indicting.
Considering that the victim is a child, the Special Act on the Punishment of Child Abuse Crimes, which allows for aggravated punishment, was applied. However, two social workers who were previously referred by the police with a recommendation for indictment were not prosecuted as their charges were deemed difficult to prove.
This case came to light when a facility worker who learned of B’s abuse reported it to a local human rights organization. The 420 Disability Discrimination Elimination Gyeongsan Joint Struggle Group, composed of 16 disability, labor, and human rights civic groups in the Gyeongsan area, held a press conference in front of Gyeongsan City Hall on May 18, 2021, stating, "A teenage disabled person was subjected to various abuses such as water torture for not obeying," and urged a thorough investigation, criticizing Gyeongsan City for neglecting management and supervision despite repeated human rights violations at the same facility.
The Daegu District Prosecutors' Office reportedly applied laws allowing for aggravated punishment considering the victim’s status as a child. They also stated they would do their best to maintain the prosecution so that sentences commensurate with the defendants’ guilt are handed down during the trial process.
Meanwhile, according to the 2022 Disability Abuse Status Report released last October, the total number of reports received by disability rights advocacy agencies in 2022 was 4,958. Among them, suspected cases of disability abuse numbered 2,641, a 7.3% increase compared to the previous year.
Reports of disability abuse have steadily increased from 2018 to 2022. Compared to 2018, total reports in 2022 increased by 35.5%, suspected disability abuse cases rose by 43.9%, and the upward trend continues annually.
The relationship between perpetrators of disability abuse and disabled victims was most frequently family members and relatives, accounting for 432 cases or 36.4%. A similar number of cases, 429 or 36.1%, involved workers at social welfare facilities and related institutions.
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