Ansan Child Abuse Attorney | Client Suspected of Abusing an Adopted Child Receives a Non-Prosecution Decision

The first of the charges against the client was physical child abuse. Physical child abuse refers to an abusive act that injures a child's body or harms the child's physical health or development.

This is strictly prohibited under Article 17 of the Child Welfare Act. A person who commits physical child abuse is punishable by imprisonment for up to 5 years or a fine of up to 50 million won.

The second of the charges against the client was emotional child abuse.

Emotional child abuse refers to an emotionally abusive act that harms a child's mental health and development. This is likewise prohibited under the Child Welfare Act, and a person who commits emotional child abuse is punishable by imprisonment for up to 5 years or a fine of up to 50 million won.

The client's final charge was sexual molestation. The client's wife claimed that the client had molested their sleeping daughter by touching her buttocks.

An indecent act against a minor under 13 is punishable, under the Act on Special Cases concerning the Punishment of Sexual Crimes, by a fine or by imprisonment for a definite term of 5 years or more with no upper limit.

In the course of an argument between the client and his wife, the wife took the daughter and left the house, and as the client tried to stop her, he collided with the daughter and she fell.

The wife used this to report the client on suspicion of physical 🔗child abuse.

The attorney argued that this could not be regarded as a physical abuse act and that the intent to abuse could not be recognized either.

The client is genuinely remorseful for having failed to control his emotions and for using abusive language in the course of arguing with his wife.

Having learned that showing a marital quarrel itself can constitute an act of emotional child abuse, the client has resolved never to repeat such conduct.

The client's wife stated that the client had touched the buttocks of their sleeping daughter, but the client has no recollection of this at all.

The child victim stated that the client touched her buttocks while calling his wife's name, which shows that the client mistook his daughter for his wife while half asleep and had no intent to commit an indecent act.

The wife who reported this case was expressing strong anger toward the client, and it appears that she distorted the child victim's statement.