A mother-in-law, who was sentenced to life imprisonment in the first trial for abusing and killing a 16-month-old adopted child Jeong In-i, was commuted to 35 years in prison in the second trial. To this, civic groups strongly protested, saying, “How cruelly a child must be killed to receive life imprisonment or the death penalty.”
On the 26th, the Seoul High Court’s Criminal Division 7 (Chief Judge Seong Su-je) sentenced Jang to 35 years in prison on charges of murder and habitual child abuse. Ahn, who was charged with child abuse and other charges, was sentenced to five years in prison, the same as in the first trial.
The second trial judge found that Jang was guilty of the murder charge as in the first trial. The court said, “Jung In-i had already suffered damage to his pancreas a few days before his death, and he must have known that he could die if he used blunt force twice or more on Jeong-in, who was very weak due to Jang’s abuse. He did not accept Jang’s claim that “there was no intention to kill.”
Regarding the reason for the reduction of the sentence from life imprisonment to 35 years, the court said, “There is no evidence to admit that it was a meticulously planned murder.” “Mr. It is highly probable that it was manifested as a homicide,” he explained. Regarding the adoptive father, the court pointed out that “a tragic outcome could have been prevented if appropriate relief measures had been taken, such as restraining the abuse.” Citizens in front of the courthouse vomited indignation at the news that Jang’s sentence was commuted. Gong Hye-jeong, president of the Korea Association for the Prevention of Child Abuse, pointed out that “the judgment did not bring social awareness to child abuse.” A member of the same group said, “No tolerance for child abuse should be allowed.”
Reporter Sang-Jun Park speakup@donga.com
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