Daejeon Attorney Recommendation Case | The Client Who Received a Daejeon Attorney Recommendation, Decision Not to Book the Case on Charges of Child Abandonment and Neglect

The client, who resides in Daejeon, had recently given birth to a second child and was suffering from severe postpartum depression.

The client was supposed to pick up her first child, who attends daycare, but because of her deep depression she could not bring herself to go.

The client asked her husband to bring their first child home, but the husband did not understand her depression and became very angry, regarding it as abandonment and neglect of the child.

When the client was unable to pick up the first child for several days afterward, the husband reported her to the police for abandonment and neglect.

Not only when a person commits an act of 🔗abuse against a child, but also when a person abandons or neglects a child, that person is subject to punishment under the Child Welfare Act.

The subject of the crime of abandonment and neglect is a child under one's own protection and supervision.

Persons who protect and supervise a child include biological parents, schoolteachers, private institute instructors, and childcare and kindergarten teachers who, pursuant to statute or contract, bear the duty to protect and supervise the child concerned.

Abandonment refers to moving a protected child to an unprotected condition or failing to protect a child who requires protection, while neglect refers to the act of consciously failing to provide protection, care, treatment, and education.

Where the crime of child abandonment and neglect is established, the offender is subject to imprisonment for not more than five years or a fine not exceeding 50 million won.

Depending on whether the person has a prior record, the degree of the abuse, and the number of instances of abuse, an actual custodial sentence may be imposed.

The Daejeon attorney argued that the client was experiencing severe postpartum depression.

Because the period during which depression is felt after childbirth overlaps with the breastfeeding period, drug treatment using antidepressants and similar medications is generally not recommended for ordinary new mothers.

In the client's case, however, her depressive and anxiety symptoms were so severe that they caused problems in her parenting and daily life, and she was receiving drug treatment with antidepressants and similar medications.

The Daejeon attorney submitted evidence that the client was receiving drug treatment and argued that there had been no intentional abandonment or neglect.

The Daejeon attorney noted that the husband, who had reported the client for child abandonment and neglect, and the client were in a state of serious conflict.

At present, the client and her husband are preparing for divorce litigation.

In this process, there was a dispute over the issue of custody.

The Daejeon attorney emphasized that this was a false report by the husband intended to gain an advantage in the custody dispute.