"Father Who Beat 10-Year-Old Son to Death with Baseball Bat for Lying About Homework Receives Final 11-Year Sentence"

First sentence: 12 years... Second sentence: 11 years... Finalized by Supreme Court

A man in his 40s who beat his 10-year-old son to death with a baseball bat for lying has received a final sentence of 11 years in prison.

Yonhap News Agency

According to the legal community on February 20, the Supreme Court, with Justice Seo Kyunghwan presiding, upheld the lower court’s ruling that sentenced Mr. A (44), who had been indicted on charges of child abuse resulting in death, to 11 years in prison.

Mr. A was brought to trial on charges of beating his son, Master B (10), dozens of times with an aluminum baseball bat at their home in Yeonsu-gu, Incheon, in January and causing his death. The investigation found that Mr. A decided to discipline his son after his wife told him that their son had lied about having done his workbook homework and then ran away from home.

When Master B resisted by throwing objects and then said, "I was wrong, so I will leave and live on my own," Mr. A flew into a rage. He grabbed Master B by the collar and hit his arms, legs, and back several times with the baseball bat. When Master B, unable to endure the pain, tried to block the blows with his hands, Mr. A struck the backs of his hands and his fingers, and then chased the boy as he fled toward the wardrobe and continued to hit his back and the tops of his feet, subjecting him to an indiscriminate assault 20 to 30 times. Master B died the following day in the hospital from traumatic shock due to multiple blunt-force injuries.

The court of first instance stated, "It is clear that this was a one-sided and indiscriminate act of violence against a young child victim, and since the child died as a result, the nature of the crime is extremely poor," and sentenced Mr. A to 12 years in prison.

The appellate court, however, reduced the sentence to 11 years, stating, "Considering the defendant’s age, character, environment, motive for the crime, and the means and consequences of the offense as a whole, the sentence handed down by the court of first instance is excessively heavy and therefore unjust."

Mr. A appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing that the sentence was still too heavy, but the Supreme Court reached the same conclusion as the appellate court. The bench dismissed the appeal, stating, "Even taking into account the extenuating circumstances asserted by the defendant, it cannot be said that the lower court’s sentence of 11 years in prison is grossly unjust."