Incheon Church Bruised High School Girl Found Dead...Prosecutors Say "Choir Leader's Orders"

Leader and Congregants Fully Deny Child Abuse and Murder Charges

Defendants including the victim's biological mother, church members, and the choir director faced their first trial simultaneously in connection with the case of a high school girl who died with bruises all over her body while staying in the church choir. Three individuals, including the choir director and church members, virtually denied the charges.

On the 5th, Yonhap News reported that the lawyer of church member A (54, female), who was indicted on charges of child abuse and murder, stated at the first trial held under the jurisdiction of the Incheon District Court Criminal Division 13 (Presiding Judge Jang Woo-young) that "additional organization of the indictment is necessary, so whether to admit the charges will be clarified at the next trial." The lawyer added, "If the judge has to prepare the record now, the opinion is to deny all the charges."

Church Member in His 50s Accused of Killing High School Girl [Photo by Yonhap News]

The prosecution understood that A, the daughter of the church founder, also received reports on the implementation status. They explained, "The victim was abused 26 times over three months and was in such a condition just before death that she barely ate and could not control her urination or defecation."

The prosecution applied charges of child abuse, abandonment, neglect, false imprisonment, and injury under the Child Welfare Act to A and two others. Meanwhile, the lawyers of choir director B (52, female) and another female church member in her 40s also stated, "We deny the intentionality of the crime and the foreseeability of death." B is the daughter of the church founder.

The prosecution revealed that choir director B unilaterally ordered A and other church members to "monitor and restrain the victim" and also received reports on the implementation status. They asserted that from February this year until the 15th of last month, the victim high school girl C (17), who lived together at the choir dormitory of a church in Namdong-gu, Incheon, was repeatedly abused by being confined and having both feet bound, and was abandoned until she became unable to move, resulting in her death.

The defense lawyers of A and others said, "There are parts that need correction regarding the prosecution's claim that the defendants conspired to commit 'murder'." They added, "We have the intention to deny the part about foreseeing death or intending to kill." They argued, "The main issue in this trial seems to be whether there was conspiracy based on text messages between the defendants, and the prosecution's indictment needs to be organized."

All of them claimed during police investigations that "C often self-harmed, and we tried to stop her," but also insisted, "There was no intention to abuse." C's mother was non-custodially indicted on charges of abandoning and neglecting her daughter, who needed psychiatric treatment, by sending her to the church instead of a hospital. The church member was investigated to have sent her daughter, who had been living with her in Sejong City, to the choir dormitory of the church in Incheon around February after her husband passed away earlier this year and after receiving a proposal from B.

Earlier, on May 15th at around 8 p.m., C lost consciousness and collapsed while having a meal at the church. C was transported to the hospital by the 119 emergency team but died four hours later. At the time, C's entire body was bruised, and marks of restraint were found on both wrists.