Special Education Teacher A Accused of Abuse "Regret Over Illegal Recording Evidence Being Admitted"
"Do Not Want Monetary Compensation... Just Do Not Want to Lose My Dream Due to Coercion"
A special education teacher who was found guilty in the first trial of emotionally abusing the son of webtoon artist and broadcaster Ju Homin has appealed, expressing regret that an illegally recorded audio was accepted as evidence.
Special education teacher A, who was found guilty in the first trial of emotionally abusing Joo Ho-min's son, is seen holding an appeal petition at the Suwon District Court in Yeongtong-gu, Suwon-si, Gyeonggi-do. [Photo by Yonhap News]
On the morning of the 6th at around 10:30 a.m., special education teacher A held a press conference in front of the civil service office at Suwon District Court and stated, "My dream was to be a special education teacher, and I decided to appeal because I do not want to lose that due to external circumstances." A said, "In the first trial ruling, unlike the Supreme Court precedent, it was regrettable that the illegal recording was accepted as evidence. If exceptions to illegal recordings are to be recognized, I think the court should have considered what efforts the parents made before placing the recorder and confirmed whether recording was the last resort before making a judgment."
Additionally, A raised objections to the fact that repeating the expression "I don't like it" in a brief moment to Ju's son was recognized as guilt. A said, "I believe that a close relationship had already been formed to the extent that it was okay to guide problematic behavior by verbally expressing 'good' and 'bad' with a child who likes coming to the classroom," and emphasized, "When I said 'I don't like it,' I was focusing on the child's problematic behavior, not the child himself."
Regarding the suspicion that A demanded money from Ju, A explained, "At the beginning when the case was reported in the media, Ju was reported to have said he would show leniency toward me, so my lawyer only conveyed a kind of guideline to Ju's court-appointed lawyer to explore the possibility of a settlement within a certain range." A continued, "When I requested my lawyer not to pursue the money demand, my lawyer accepted my opinion and deleted the demand for monetary compensation before sending it again to Ju's lawyer." He added, "However, Ju exaggerated and distorted the facts, claiming as if I demanded money as a form of 'surrender.'"
Furthermore, A appealed, "During the investigation and trial process, the child abuse officers in Yongin City and the prosecution made inappropriate judgments based solely on the recorded files that did not capture the full context of the statements." Present at the press conference were legal representative Kim Ki-yoon, an advisory lawyer to the Gyeonggi-do Office of Education, and the special education teachers' union. Lawyer Kim emphasized, "Schools will become spaces not for teachers to realize education but for self-defense and neglect," and added, "This guilty verdict has made teachers live their entire careers as individuals trying not to get caught in the educational field."
Conflicting Claims Over 'Money Demand'... Ju Said, "It Felt Like a Treaty Sent by the Victorious Nation to the Defeated Nation"
Special education teacher A, who was found guilty in the first trial of emotionally abusing Joo Ho-min's son, is seen holding an appeal document at the Suwon District Court in Yeongtong-gu, Suwon-si, Gyeonggi-do. [Photo by Yonhap News]
Earlier, on September 13, 2022, at a customized learning class in an elementary school in Yongin, Gyeonggi-do, A was indicted on the grounds of emotionally abusing Ju's son (then 9 years old) by making statements such as "Your manners are very bad," "Ugh, I hate it, I hate it so much," and "I hate you. I hate you too. Really hate you." In response, Ju secretly sent a recorder with his son to school and reported A to the police on charges of child abuse based on the recorded content.
The first trial court on the 1st postponed sentencing and gave A a suspended fine of 2 million won. On the day of sentencing, Ju claimed through a personal broadcast that he received a letter from A containing demands such as withdrawing the complaint, material compensation, and posting a handwritten apology, and said, "Although the compensation part was canceled in the second letter, it felt like a 'treaty sent by the victorious nation to the defeated nation,' so I withdrew my intention to show leniency."
The key issue in the trial was whether the "secretly recorded audio" had evidentiary power. The first trial court judged that the problematic transcript was an illegal evidence as it was a recording of a conversation between others without disclosure, but considering the exceptional nature of this case, it recognized the evidentiary power and agreed that A emotionally abused Ju's son, thus ruling guilty.
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