A harsh sentence was confirmed for a biological mother who neglected her 15-month-old daughter to death and abandoned the body for nearly three years.
On the 16th, the Supreme Court Division 1 (Presiding Justice Seo Kyunghwan) upheld the original sentence in the appeal trial of Seo (36, female), who was detained and prosecuted on charges including child abuse resulting in death under the Child Abuse Punishment Act, concealment of a corpse, and violation of the Social Security Benefits Act. Seo was sentenced to 8 years and 6 months in prison, ordered to complete 80 hours of a child abuse treatment program, and banned from employment at child-related institutions for 5 years.
Seo, who neglected his 15-month-old daughter causing her death and then abandoned the body, appears at the warrant hearing.
The court explained the reason for dismissing Seo’s appeal, stating, "There is no error in the original court’s judgment that violates the rules of logic and experience or exceeds the limits of free evaluation of evidence, nor is there a misinterpretation of the legal principles regarding the establishment of the crime of child abuse resulting in death under the Child Abuse Punishment Act, the principle of evidence-based judgment, or the conspiracy relationship in the crime of corpse concealment."
Seo was charged with neglecting her 15-month-old daughter to death, abandoning the body, and, even after the daughter’s death, failing to report the death and fraudulently receiving childcare and child allowances together with her ex-husband Choi (31).
Seo, who married Choi in August 2018, left her 15-month-old daughter unattended at their home in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, from August 2019 to January 2020 to visit Choi, who was serving time at Seoul Southern Detention Center in Guro-gu, Seoul, a five-hour round trip away.
After Choi was imprisoned, Seo, who was raising two children alone and facing financial difficulties, left her daughter alone at home while taking only her son to visit Choi about 3 to 4 days a week, totaling 70 visits during that period.
It was revealed that Seo never took her daughter for infant health checkups after birth and did not administer even the essential basic vaccinations required for infants after the daughter was one month old. About a week before the daughter’s death, she had a fever and vomiting but was neglected without being taken to a hospital.
On January 4, 2020, Seo went out alone to meet her boyfriend, leaving her then 5-year-old son and sick daughter at home, returning 18 hours later the next day.
When the daughter died on January 6, 2020, Seo kept the body at her home, then moved it to her mother’s house in mid-February 2020. After Choi was released from prison, around early May 2020, Seo and Choi moved the daughter’s body to various locations and kept it until November 14, 2022.
Seo and Choi did not report the daughter’s death and fraudulently received a total of 3.3 million won in childcare or child allowances 29 times from February 2020 to May 2021. The couple divorced in August 2021.
The first trial court sentenced Seo to 7 years and 6 months in prison: 5 years for child abuse resulting in death, 2 years for corpse concealment, and 6 months for violation of the Social Security Benefits Act. Seo was also ordered to complete 80 hours of a child abuse treatment program and banned from employment at child-related institutions for 5 years.
In court, Seo’s defense argued that although she could not provide an ideal nurturing environment due to financial hardship, she did not neglect her sick daughter by failing to take her to the hospital. They also claimed that even if some neglect occurred, the daughter’s death date was January 4, 2020?not January 6 as the prosecution claimed?so there was no causal relationship between Seo’s neglect and the daughter’s death.
However, the court did not accept these arguments.
The court stated, "As the person responsible for raising and protecting the victim most closely, the defendant did not conduct health checkups or necessary vaccinations, repeatedly went out for long periods despite signs of health problems, and ultimately caused the victim’s death. The method of concealing the victim’s body was also reprehensible, and it is difficult to see sincere remorse."
Choi, who conspired with Seo to abandon the daughter’s body, was sentenced to 2 years and 4 months in prison.
The appellate court increased Seo’s sentence by one year from the first trial, sentencing her to 8 years and 6 months in prison.
Like the first trial, the appellate court sentenced Seo to 2 years for corpse concealment and 6 months for violation of the Social Security Benefits Act, but increased the sentence for child abuse resulting in death by one year to 6 years.
The court said, "The defendant neglected the victim, who was only 10 to 15 months old and required absolute protection and care, by failing to conduct essential vaccinations and infant health checkups, leaving the victim alone at home for about 70 times over approximately 4 months, each time for about 5 hours. Even after respiratory symptoms persisted for a week, the defendant did not take appropriate measures such as taking the victim to a hospital. She went out for about 18 hours to meet her boyfriend, during which the victim’s health deteriorated severely, unable to digest formula, vomiting, and showing signs of extreme weakness, yet no medical treatment was sought, leading to the victim’s death. Afterwards, the defendant failed to report the death promptly, concealed the body, and fraudulently received child and childcare allowances. Considering the relationship between the defendant and the victim, the victim’s age and need for protection, and the circumstances of the crime, the offense is very serious."
The court also pointed out, "The defendant attempted to mislead the investigation by presenting another child as the victim early in the investigation and falsely stating that the victim was missing. In the original trial, she claimed the victim died around August 2019 and asked Choi to coordinate their statements. The post-crime behavior during the investigation and trial was also very unfavorable."
Additionally, the court considered Seo’s coercion of witnesses to commit perjury during the trial and failure to return the fraudulently received allowances as aggravating factors against her.
The appellate court maintained Choi’s sentence of 2 years and 4 months as handed down in the first trial.
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