Church 'Abuse Death' High School Girl's Mother Thanks Perpetrators for "Taking Care"

They Stated They Do Not Want the Perpetrators to Be Punished

At a church in Incheon, the mother of a high school girl who died due to abuse by a church member and the choir director appeared in court and stated that she does not want the perpetrators to be punished.

On the 2nd, the Criminal Division 13 of the Incheon District Court (Presiding Judge Jang Woo-young) held the third trial for defendant A (54, female), a church member, defendant B (52, female), the choir director, and another woman in her 40s, who were charged with child abuse resulting in death and illegal confinement.

On that day, the mother (52) of the victim, high school girl C (17), who died from abuse by A and others, appeared as a witness in court and said, "I am grateful that (B and others) took care of the parts I could not attend to closely." When A’s defense attorney asked, "You expressed from the investigation stage that you did not want the three defendants to be punished, and is it correct that you still hold that position?" she replied, "Yes." The mother, a member of the church, is currently out on bail and charged with neglect and abandonment for sending her daughter, who suffers from bipolar affective disorder (manic depression) and requires psychiatric treatment, to the church instead of a hospital.

A woman in her 50s, a church member accused of abuse in connection with the case of a high school girl who was covered in bruises and died after being transported to the hospital, is entering the Incheon District Court on the afternoon of May 18 to undergo a pre-arrest detention hearing (warrant review).
[Photo by Yonhap News]

The mother of C stated, "After my daughter had a seizure and we called 119 to take her to the hospital emergency room, we tried to find a hospital for her to be admitted, but we had no choice but to return because they said, 'We do not accept minors,' or 'Immediate admission is not possible.'" She also said, "I heard from church members that bad things could happen in psychiatric hospitals, including sexual assault," and added, "As a mother, sending my daughter to a psychiatric hospital would have broken my heart if such situations occurred." She claimed that there was no direct instruction or encouragement from B, who is also the daughter of the church founder, during the process of sending her daughter to the church.

The fourth trial of this case is scheduled for 10 a.m. on the 4th, during which questioning of A and others is expected to take place. A and the other two were arrested and indicted on charges of abusing high school girl C, who lived at a church in Incheon from February to May 15, to the extent that her entire body was bruised, resulting in her death. They forced C, who had not slept for five days, to copy the Bible and ordered her to climb stairs from the basement first floor to the seventh floor above ground for an hour.

Due to continuous abuse, C’s health deteriorated to the point where she could not control her bladder or bowels properly and was unable to consume any food. However, A and others did not provide any medical treatment and purchased restraint bands designed for dementia patients to bind C more tightly. Eventually, on May 15 at around 8 p.m., C lost consciousness and collapsed. She was transported to the hospital by 119 emergency responders but died four hours later.