6,795 Children Subject to Repeated Suspected Child Abuse Reports... Some Reported Over 10 Times
Numerous Repeated Reports of Suspected Abuse... Blind Spots Remain
Reports Increase While Abuse Determinations Decrease... Rise in Non-Prosecution Cases
There have been a significant number of cases where suspected child abuse has been reported repeatedly. While thousands of children have been reported more than twice, some cases have seen reports filed more than ten times.
According to Yonhap News Agency, on April 29, Beomsoo Seo, a member of the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee from the People Power Party, received data from the National Police Agency showing that a total of 6,795 children were reported more than twice on suspicion of child abuse last year.
By the number of repeated reports, the largest group was children reported twice, totaling 4,362. This was followed by 1,306 children reported three times, and 490 children reported four times. Although the number of children decreased as the number of reports increased, there were still as many as 114 children who had been reported more than ten times.
Since January of last year, the police have reformed the Abusive Prevention Officer (APO) system so that repeated reports are now tallied based on the 'victim child' rather than the previous 'reporter's number.'
When a suspected child abuse report is filed, the police and local governments jointly respond. Depending on the results of the on-site investigation, emergency measures such as immediate separation, temporary protection, or restraining orders may be implemented.
According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, in 2024 there were 50,242 reports of suspected child abuse, an increase of 1,720 cases (3.5%) from the previous year. However, only 24,492 of these cases were determined to be actual child abuse after investigation, representing a decrease of 1,247 cases (4.8%) compared to 2023.
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The number of cases in which child abuse perpetrators were not referred for prosecution has continued to rise, increasing from 1,233 cases in 2021, to 1,735 in 2022, 2,399 in 2023, and 2,854 last year.
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