Last year at a motel in Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi Province, a newborn baby was left neglected in a sink and died.
Following the biological mother who gave birth to the baby, the biological father in his 20s has now also been put on trial on charges of aiding and abetting child abuse murder.
The Gongju Branch of the Daejeon District Prosecution Service indicted the biological father, Mr. A, today (the 9th) on charges of aiding and abetting child abuse murder and fraud.
The case began last year when Mr. A's ex-girlfriend, Ms. B, became pregnant.
Mr. A took abortion costs from Ms. B under the pretext of finding a hospital for her.
When Ms. B missed the timing for pregnancy termination, he took additional money by deceiving her, claiming, "I have hired a doctor who will kill the child after birth."
However, no such doctor existed.
The total amount of money Mr. A extorted under the guise of abortion costs and fees for procuring a fake doctor was 3,088,000 won.
Investigations by the prosecution revealed that the money was used for gambling and motel fees.
In the end, Ms. B gave birth to the child alone in a motel in Uijeongbu last December.
Immediately after birth, the baby was left unattended in a sink for about 12 minutes and ultimately died.
Ms. B was indicted on charges of child abuse murder and sentenced to 6 years in prison in the first trial.
The court recognized murder by dolus eventualis (oblique intent), stating that Ms. B could have fully anticipated the possibility of the child dying yet failed to request rescue or report to a medical institution.
Apart from the biological mother's trial, the investigation into the biological father, Mr. A, continued. Initially, Ms. B filed a complaint against Mr. A for fraud, and the police also applied only fraud charges against Mr. A, forwarding him to the prosecution without detention.
However, the prosecution's assessment changed after re-analyzing the records of the newborn's death case, bank account records of the two individuals, smartphone forensics, and DNA test results.
The prosecution determined that Mr. A did not simply take the money through fraud, but also instigated Ms. B's crime by lying that he had "found a doctor to kill the child."
Accordingly, the prosecution indicted Mr. A while detaining him on charges of aiding and abetting child abuse murder as well as fraud.
Both the biological mother Ms. B and the prosecution appealed the first-instance ruling sentencing her to 6 years in prison, and the appellate trial is currently underway.
Reported by Kim Minjeong | Video by Lee Da-in | Graphics by Yook Do-hyun | Produced by SBS Digital News
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