“You are a mental patient…” Why is the English teacher who insulted a first-year middle school student not prosecuted for child abuse?

The suspect denies the charges and claims, “B’s unexpected behavior disrupted the class atmosphere.”
Prosecutors “There is one point of inappropriateness acknowledged, but it cannot be said that mental health was impaired.”

An English instructor who cursed and inflicted corporal punishment on a student at an academy was acquitted of charges.

On the 8th, the Gwangju District Prosecutors' Office decided not to indict Mr. A, a man in his 30s who was sent on charges of child abuse and defamation.

Mr. A was accused of abusing middle school student B in an academy classroom in March of last year, including calling him a 'mentally ill person', swearing at him, and hitting his palm about 100 times with an empty plastic bottle.

After Mr. A left the company, the academy became aware of the abuse and filed a complaint, and the investigation began.

Mr. A acknowledged the facts themselves but denied the intentionality of the abuse.

He stated, “Group B’s academic attitude was disingenuous, such as suddenly joking or behaving unexpectedly during class,” and “I once received a request from his mother to punish him corporally for discipline.”

The prosecution accepted Mr. A’s claim.

It was judged that it was difficult to say that the suspect's words and actions caused damage to the child's body or amounted to abuse equivalent to abandonment or neglect.

The prosecution explained, "It is acknowledged that the suspect's words and actions were inappropriate, but there is insufficient evidence to show that the mental health of the victim was impaired, including receiving psychological treatment."

In addition, regarding the charge of defamation, he added, "It is difficult to acknowledge the intentionality of the suspect's remarks as they were only one-offs, and the content is closer to an expression of subjective opinion rather than lowering the social evaluation of the victim child, so it is difficult to say that it stated the facts."

Attorney Jeong-Hoon Kang of Daeryun Law Firm, who represented Mr. A, explained, "In order for emotional abuse of a child to be recognized, the level of harm to mental health and development must be acknowledged beyond simply causing discomfort," adding, "We were able to obtain a good result by legally proving that the act was for disciplinary purposes while the client honestly admitted the facts."

#Middle school student insult #English instructor #Non-indictment #Accident #Gwangju

Park Seok-ho (haitai2000@ikbc.co.kr)

[View full article]
"You're mentally ill..." Why not indict the English teacher who insulted a middle school student for child abuse? (Shortcut)