A woman in her twenties has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for neglecting and starving her 18-month-old son to death.
According to the legal community on the 23rd, the Busan District Court Criminal Division 5 (Presiding Judge Kim Hyunsun) sentenced Ms. A to 15 years in prison for violating the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment of Child Abuse Crimes (child abuse resulting in death). The court also ordered her to complete 40 hours of a child abuse treatment program and imposed a 10-year employment restriction at child-related institutions.
Ms. A was accused of habitually neglecting her 18-month-old son, referred to as B, and failing to provide him with proper meals, resulting in his death at an apartment in Haeundae-gu, Busan, in October of last year. A few days before B's death, he showed symptoms such as rolling his eyes back and convulsing, indicating poor health, but Ms. A did not take him to the hospital due to financial difficulties.
It was also found that at the time of B's death, Ms. A left him unattended to go out drinking with an acquaintance. Later, Ms. A's acquaintance discovered that B had died and reported it to the police.
The investigation revealed that Ms. A, claiming B had frequent bowel movements, reduced the number of formula feedings from the recommended average of more than five times a day to just twice a day, and sometimes did not feed him at all for several days. At the time of his death, B weighed 4.98 kg, which is more than 6 kg less than the average weight of 11 kg for an 18-month-old baby. It was also revealed that Ms. A often told acquaintances, "Even feeding him is bothersome."
The court stated, "The defendant's difficult financial situation is a mitigating factor. However, this crime involves the killing of a child and must be punished severely," explaining the reasons for the sentence.
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