Mother in Her 30s Who Slapped Back of 2-Year-Old for Pushing Her Daughter Acquitted of Child Abuse

Court Finds “CCTV Footage Shows Weak Impact, No Intent to Abuse”

A mother in her 30s, who stood trial for striking another child on the back with her hand at a shelter for single mothers after the child pushed her young daughter and made her fall, was acquitted in the first trial. The court determined that, considering the circumstances at the time, as well as the location, frequency, and strength of the strike, it was difficult to view the act as physical abuse to the extent that it would harm the child’s health or development.

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According to the legal community on August 19, Judge Ji Chang-gu, presiding judge of Criminal Division 2 of Suwon District Court, acquitted Ms. A, who had been indicted on charges of violating the Child Welfare Act (child abuse).

Ms. A, who was residing in a single mother facility in Gyeonggi Province, was brought to trial on the charge of striking the back of a child, Mr. B (age 2), once with force in the facility’s playroom at around 6:40 p.m. on February 15 of last year.

At the time, Mr. B was sitting on a slide watching TV, while Ms. A’s 15-month-old daughter, Ms. C, appeared to try to get him off the slide by pushing his back. Mr. B did not get off and, in turn, grabbed Ms. C's hands and pushed her hard, causing her to fall backwards. According to the investigation, Ms. A saw this and then struck Mr. B.

During the trial, Ms. A argued that she had no intention of abusing the child, and the court also found that Ms. A's action did not rise to the level of physical abuse prohibited by the Child Welfare Act.

Judge Ji explained, “Compared to Ms. C, Mr. B is physically larger and stronger, and while on top of the slide, he grabbed Ms. C’s hands and pushed her hard, causing her to fall badly. Ms. A saw this and approached to strike his back once.” He further stated, “Ms. A hit the back and did so only once; even in the CCTV footage, the degree of impact does not appear to have been strong.”

Regarding the red mark found on Mr. B's back immediately after the incident, Judge Ji commented, “There is doubt as to whether the injury was actually caused by Ms. A’s strike, and even if it was, it is highly likely that it resulted from the victim child’s very sensitive skin.” He added, “Based on the submitted evidence, it is difficult to conclude that it constituted abuse posing a risk to the child’s health or development,” explaining the reason for the not guilty verdict.

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