Gyeonggi Uijeongbu Public Childcare Center Suspected of Child Abuse
Victim's Parent: "Child Repeatedly Cries... Experiencing Apathy"
CCTV Shows Child Thrown on Floor and Forced into Hallway
It was recently revealed that three childcare teachers at a public daycare center in Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi Province, were suspected of repeatedly abusing the children under their care.
On the 29th, MBN reported, "The Women and Juvenile Crime Investigation Unit of the Northern Gyeonggi Police Agency is investigating a child abuse report filed at a public daycare center in Uijeongbu." The report of child abuse at the daycare center was filed in March.
According to Yonhap News and others, a post written by the parents of a boy named A (2 years old), detailing the child abuse and their feelings, recently spread on a local online community. A started attending the daycare center in March, but about a month later, he began crying repeatedly and, when leaving, held the homeroom teacher’s hand while staring into space. Concerned, A’s parents sought psychological counseling and were shocked to hear that he was showing signs of lethargy, the final stage of child abuse, indicating strong pressure within a short period.
Following this, A’s parents attempted to view the daycare center’s closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage but were initially refused by the director. However, after persistent requests, they were allowed to watch the footage a week later, during which they said they could barely breathe.
The CCTV footage showed a teacher grabbing the child by one arm, lifting him up, throwing him onto the floor, and pushing him out the door because he refused to take a nap. It also showed the child being left alone standing in a dark corridor filled with stacked items for over 30 minutes because he was unable to swallow food due to teething pain. During the approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes that the child cried, the teachers neither comforted him nor intervened, instead chatting among themselves or looking at their phones.
A’s parents reported the physical and emotional abuse and neglect to the police. After reviewing two months’ worth of CCTV footage, the police confirmed that six children, including A, out of 15 in the same class, were subjected to about 40 instances of abuse by three childcare teachers. The three teachers were dismissed, and the director resigned. The police plan to summon and investigate them soon, while Uijeongbu City is preparing measures to normalize the daycare center. However, it is known that during a face-to-face investigation by the city, the accused mostly denied the abuse allegations.
A Uijeongbu City official stated, "We are preparing follow-up measures such as psychological treatment for the children to stabilize the daycare center," adding, "Currently, the daycare is operated under a social welfare corporation’s consignment, and depending on the investigation results, we will consider contract termination and administrative sanctions."
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