"You Were Running Around" College Student Who Shouted at 4-Year-Old Found Not Guilty

Acquitted of Child Welfare Act Violation
"Conduct Was Inappropriate but Not Intentional"

A college student who shouted at a 4-year-old child living upstairs over inter-floor noise has been found not guilty.

The Asia Business Daily DB

On the 14th, the Criminal Division 3 Single-Judge Panel of the Ulsan District Court, presided over by Senior Judge Lee Jaewook, announced that it had acquitted a woman in her 20s, referred to as A, who had been put on trial on charges of violating the Child Welfare Act.

A was brought to trial on charges of emotionally abusing a child after inter-floor noise was heard in her apartment in Ulsan, where she lives, in early November 2024, and she went upstairs and shouted at a 4-year-old girl, referred to as B.

At the time, A shouted at B, saying, "You were running around, weren't you?", and frightened her by bending at the waist and bringing her face close to the child's face. She also reportedly used abusive language toward the child's mother, who said she would "report it to the police." It is said that they had argued several times before over inter-floor noise issues.

The prosecution indicted A, judging that she had emotionally abused the child.

The court stated, "The defendant, due to a sense of victimization caused by inter-floor noise, was unable to control her emotions or anger, and engaged in inappropriate and unwise words and actions."

However, it explained the reasoning for the sentence by adding, "Based on the evidence submitted, it is insufficient to recognize that she acted with the intent of child abuse and abused the child victim."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.