Fine of 1 Million Won and Completion of 40-Hour Education Program
Ministry of Health and Welfare Adds Definition Clause for Emotional Abuse
A husband who assaulted his wife while holding their daughter during a marital dispute was sentenced to a fine on charges of child abuse.
On the 14th, Judge Shin Heung-ho of the Incheon District Court Criminal Division 6 handed down a fine to husband A, who was prosecuted for child abuse under the Child Welfare Act.
On the late afternoon of June 19, 2022, A had a marital fight with his wife B at home. During the scuffle, he used abusive language and, when his wife tried to record the incident, he took her phone and threw it outside the apartment entrance door. In the process, when his wife grabbed his pants to get the phone back, he pushed her, causing her to fall to the floor.
At that time, their 3-year-old daughter was sitting in the living room. A, holding their daughter, charged at his wife again and pushed her against the wall, causing B to fall to the floor. During the physical struggle, A also pressed his elbow against B’s forehead and abdomen.
B fled the house holding their daughter and stayed overnight at a motel. The day after sustaining a head injury, she received treatment at a hospital and obtained a medical certificate. She then reported her husband’s assault to the Women’s Emergency Hotline 1366 Incheon Center and filed a police complaint against him.
Two months later, she submitted an additional complaint to the police on charges of child abuse.
In the child abuse trial, A claimed, “I did not assault my wife nor abuse my daughter,” and insisted, “On the contrary, I was the one who was assaulted unilaterally by my wife.”
However, the first trial court stated, “B testified specifically and consistently to the investigative authorities and in court not only about the assault she suffered from the defendant but also about the acts of child abuse,” and added, “The facts of the indictment can be recognized as guilty without doubt.”
The court further said, “Considering the degree of the child abuse and the fact that the defendant is a first-time offender,” it ordered a fine of 1 million won and 40 hours of participation in a treatment program.
Recently, the Ministry of Health and Welfare added a clause to Article 17, Paragraph 5, which defines emotional abuse to include “cases caused by exposing children to domestic violence.” Domestic violence here refers to acts causing physical, mental, or property damage among family members. This means that if a child is continuously exposed to marital disputes, it is regarded as child abuse.
According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s “National Child Abuse Status Report,” the proportion of emotional abuse has been increasing every year. In 2012, there were only 936 cases, but the number steadily rose each year, reaching 8,732 cases in 2020, a tenfold increase over eight years.
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