Church Pastor Sent to Prosecutors Over 11-Year-Old's Abuse Death in Cheonan

A church pastor in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province, accused of abusing an 11-year-old child to death at a church, has been transferred to prosecutors in custody.

The Chungnam National Police Agency announced today (August 14) that it has transferred a church pastor in his 60s, surnamed A, to the Daejeon District Prosecutors' Office Cheonan Branch under arrest on charges of child abuse resulting in death.

Pastor A is accused of causing the death of 11-year-old B along with the child's maternal grandmother, after B showed symptoms of a high fever of 41.5°C (107°F) and lowered consciousness at a church in Cheonan on the afternoon of August 5, and died about three hours later.

During his transfer to the prosecution today, Pastor A kept his head bowed and did not answer any questions from reporters, such as "Why was the child tied to a bed?", "Did you not know about the high fever and exhaustion symptoms?", and "Do you admit to the abuse charges?"

According to data submitted by the National Fire Agency to Representative Park Jung-hyun of the Democratic Party of Korea, who is a member of the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee, at the time of the 119 rescue crew's dispatch, B had restraint marks and bruises on both wrists and ankles.

The police believe that B was tied to a bed for about 30 hours.

Previously, on August 2 and 3 for two consecutive days, B came out of the church and directly appealed to investigative authorities about suffering abuse, stating, "My maternal grandmother hit me."

However, the police and the city of Cheonan did not take immediate separation measures, citing B's psychological state and facility conditions.

The court also dismissed the request for a temporary restraining order against the maternal grandmother, stating that "necessity is not recognized," and B ended up dying just two days after returning to the church.

B, who has an intellectual disability, had reportedly lived at this church continuously since birth and recently resided with the maternal grandmother.

In March of this year, the school compulsory education management committee approved an "exemption from school attendance" upon the application of the guardian, the maternal grandmother, and B appears to have spent time virtually only at the church.

However, having died about five months after becoming an "out-of-school youth," criticism has emerged as to whether the exemption from school attendance and homeschooling systems functioned as blind spots that neglected child abuse.

B was registered as a person with an intellectual disability through the Cheonan City Child Protection Agency, but because guardians such as the maternal grandmother did not apply for related allowances or welfare support, B was reportedly omitted from the authorities' regular management and support targets.

The police plan to wrap up the investigation soon regarding the maternal grandmother, who was arrested on August 11, and transfer her to the prosecution sometime next week, while also investigating another adult who was living at the church at the time of the incident to check for any complicity.

The police also plan to review whether to apply additional charges as soon as the autopsy results for B come out.

A police official stated, "As soon as the investigation concludes, we plan to form an inspection team headed by the chief of living safety to closely examine overall problems and improvement points, including protective measures, so that the same case does not happen again."

Meanwhile, it was revealed that at the time of the rescue crew's dispatch, B was in critical condition with blood oxygen saturation dropping to 89%, but had to wait at the scene for more than an hour because a hospital to accept the child could not be found.

At the time, the rescue crew inquired with six nearby large hospitals about acceptance, but all refused, stating either that they "do not have a pediatric specialist" or "do not have a pediatric intensive care unit."

In the end, B was moved from the church to a hospital one hour and five minutes after the report was received.

It was understood that the Sejong Chungnam National University Hospital also accepted B after explaining that transfer could be possible after primary treatment and going through guardian consent.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.