20s Mother Fined for Leaving 1-Year-4-Month-Old Daughter Unattended for 12 Hours

Returns leaving a note saying "Raise well" and leaves again

A mother in her 20s who left her home for about 12 hours leaving behind her one-year-old and four-month-old daughters was fined.

On the 1st, Yonhap News reported that Judge Lee Seong of the Ulsan District Court Criminal Division 1 sentenced Ms. A, who was tried for violating the Child Welfare Act (child abandonment and neglect), to a fine of 1 million won. The court also ordered Ms. A to complete a 40-hour child abuse treatment program.

Ms. A was prosecuted on charges of leaving her one-year-old and four-month-old biological daughters asleep at home in Incheon around 9 a.m. in December 2020 and returning only after about 11 hours and 40 minutes. After returning home, Ms. A left a note for her common-law husband Mr. B saying, "I hate you, oppa, so I am leaving without my phone. Take good care of the children and never contact me again," and then left the house again. Because of this, the children were left unattended for about another 15 minutes until Mr. B came home. It was reported that when Mr. B returned around 9:30 p.m., only the babies were at home.

The court explained the sentencing by saying, "Considering the motive and circumstances after the crime, the guilt is not light," but also took into account "the defendant’s intellectual disability and remorse, and the fact that the children were placed in a foster institution, reducing the likelihood of reoffending."