Incheon daycare teachers given suspended terms over 196 instances of child abuse
Version 3: Additional outlets have now reported the ruling, one of them adding that the abuse ran from 8 March to 25 April 2024 and giving the older teacher's age as 62, differing from the 65 reported elsewhere.
In short
Two daycare teachers in Incheon received suspended prison sentences on October 6 for physically and emotionally abusing 2- and 3-year-old children at their nursery between March and April 2024. The court counted 69 instances of abuse by the older teacher and 127 by her younger colleague, a total of 196, and ordered both to complete 40 hours of child-abuse treatment lectures and banned them from child-related employment for five years. It cited the defendants' admissions, their lack of criminal records and a partial settlement by the older teacher in explaining the suspended terms.
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Incheon District Court on October 6 sentenced two daycare teachers to suspended prison terms for abusing 2- and 3-year-old children at a nursery in the city's Seohae-gu district, according to Yonhap, Maeil Business and Seoul Economic Daily. Judge Kim Ki-ho of the court's ninth criminal division gave a 65-year-old teacher, identified only as A, 10 months in prison suspended for two years, and her 30-year-old colleague, identified as B, one year and six months suspended for three years. The court also ordered both to complete 40 hours of child-abuse treatment lectures and barred them from child-related employment for five years, and ordered B to perform 120 hours of community service. [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 6 , 7 ]
The two were indicted for habitually abusing children aged 2 to 3 physically and emotionally while working as teachers at the daycare centre between March and April 2024. Investigators confirmed 69 instances of abuse by A and 127 by B, the documents say, a total of 196. [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 6 ]
According to the findings, A took a toy from a two-year-old who would not listen and struck the child's forehead three times with it, and wiped the mouths and noses of five children with a single wet tissue. B repeatedly struck children, including the back of a three-year-old, for not listening. Dong-A Ilbo reported that A's abuse ran from March 8 to April 25, 2024. [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 6 ]
In sentencing, Judge Kim said the defendants had a duty as daycare teachers to raise children healthily but instead abused young children in need of protection, making the conduct highly blameworthy, and that the abuse caused harm to the victims' physical and mental development. [ 2 , 3 , 4 ]
The court cited mitigating factors: A admitted most of the offences and B all of them, and both are said to be reflecting on their actions; A reached a settlement with some of the children and deposited a sum with the court; and neither defendant has a criminal record. Seoul Economic Daily framed its report around the question of why the sentences were suspended and reproduced that reasoning. [ 2 , 3 , 4 ]
Yonhap, Maeil Business and Seoul Economic Daily gave A's age as 65, while Dong-A Ilbo described her as 62. None of the documents mentions whether prosecutors or the defendants will appeal, or gives any reaction from the children's families. [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 6 ]
Why it matters
The case concerns adults responsible for supervising very young children, and the court itself said the abuse harmed the victims' physical and mental development. The suspended sentences rest on admissions of guilt, clean records and a partial settlement, factors that may draw attention to how courts weigh leniency in child-abuse cases. The documents give no indication of how the victims' families or regulators responded.
Key facts
- Incheon District Court sentenced a 65-year-old daycare teacher, identified as A, to 10 months in prison suspended for two years, and her 30-year-old colleague B to one year and six months suspended for three years. [ 2 , 3 , 4 ]
- Both were ordered to complete 40 hours of child-abuse treatment lectures and were barred from working at child-related institutions for five years. [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 6 ]
- B was also ordered to perform 120 hours of community service. [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 6 ]
- Investigators counted 69 instances of abuse by A and 127 by B, a total of 196, at a daycare centre in Seohae-gu, Incheon, between March and April 2024. [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 6 ]
- A was found to have taken a toy from a two-year-old who would not listen and struck the child's forehead three times, and to have wiped the mouths and noses of five children with a single wet tissue. [ 2 , 3 , 4 ]
- The court said the abuse harmed the children's physical and mental development but cited the defendants' admissions, their lack of prior convictions and a partial settlement by A. [ 2 , 3 , 4 ]
- Dong-A Ilbo reported the older teacher's age as 62, while Yonhap, Maeil Business and Seoul Economic Daily reported 65. [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 6 ]
Confirmed by several sources
- Incheon District Court sentenced two daycare teachers to suspended prison terms on October 6 over the abuse of 2- and 3-year-old children at a nursery in the city's Seohae-gu district. [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 6 , 7 ]
- The court counted 196 confirmed instances of abuse, 69 by the older teacher and 127 by the younger one. [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 6 ]
- Both defendants were ordered to take 40 hours of child-abuse treatment lectures and were banned from child-related employment for five years; the younger teacher was also ordered to perform 120 hours of community service. [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 6 ]
- The court cited the defendants' admissions of guilt, their lack of prior convictions and a partial settlement by the older teacher in explaining the sentences. [ 2 , 3 , 4 ]
Still unclear
- Whether prosecutors or the defendants will appeal the ruling. None of the documents mentions an appeal or the prosecution's position on the sentence.
- The older teacher's age. Dong-A Ilbo gives 62 while Yonhap, Maeil Business and Seoul Economic Daily give 65, and the documents do not explain the difference.
- The name of the daycare centre and any response from the children's families. The centre is described only as being in Seohae-gu, Incheon, and no family reaction is reported.
What local media are saying
Timeline, local time
- Kukmin Ilbo publishes a headline report on the suspended sentences for the teachers who abused 196 times. [ 1 ]
- Yonhap reports that Incheon District Court sentenced the two daycare teachers to suspended prison terms. [ 2 ]
- Maeil Business publishes its report on the same sentencing. [ 3 ]
- Seoul Economic Daily publishes its report on the ruling. [ 4 ]
- Newsis publishes a headline report on the case. [ 5 ]
- Dong-A Ilbo publishes its report, giving the abuse period as March 8 to April 25, 2024. [ 6 ]
- Seoul Shinmun publishes a breaking headline report on the sentencing. [ 7 ]