Babysitter Also Held Accountable in 4-Year-Old's Drowning at Swimming Pool

A court has ruled that a babysitter who brought a 4-year-old child to a swimming lesson in Busan, where the child ultimately drowned, had a "duty of care according to common sense" to watch over the child at the time.

The duty of care according to common sense refers to the duty of care reasonably required under specific circumstances and social norms, even if it is not explicitly specified in laws or contracts.

The Busan District Court has issued a suspended sentence of a 2 million won fine for a woman in her 20s of Kazakhstani nationality, identified as A, who was indicted on charges of professional negligence resulting in death.

A suspended sentence is a system that acknowledges the establishment of a crime and guilt, but defers the sentencing of punishment by taking into consideration the degree of the offense and extenuating circumstances.

A was brought to trial for failing to fulfill her duty of care regarding the accident in 2023 at an apartment swimming pool in Busanjin-gu, Busan, where 4-year-old B, whom she was looking after, fell into the water and died.

After putting a swimsuit and auxiliary equipment on child B, A sat on a pool chair wearing earphones and watched videos on her mobile phone, only realizing the accident after B had been rescued.

Child B died after being trapped underwater for about 2 minutes and 44 seconds when his auxiliary equipment became stuck in the swimming pool ladder while he was playing in the water with another child during the swimming lesson.

Due to this accident, the swimming instructor was sentenced to one year in prison suspended for two years in the first trial last year, and the swimming pool safety management team leader was sentenced to a fine of 5 million won.

The key issue in this trial was whether A also had an obligation to watch over child B during the swimming lesson.

A's side argued that her duties under the babysitter contract were limited to escorting the child to and from the swimming lesson, and that she had no duty to protect or observe the child during the class.

The court did not accept the argument that there was no contractual obligation of observation and protection, but ruled that, separate from contractual obligations, A had a "duty of care according to common sense."

The court explained the reasoning behind its ruling, stating, "When a person takes charge of escorting and preparing a child for a hazardous swimming lesson on behalf of the guardian and stays at the swimming pool, there is a duty of care according to common sense to observe from an appropriate position whether the victimized child is swimming safely and to prevent safety accidents."

Reported by Jung Da-eun | Video by Ahn Jun-hyeok | Graphics by Lee Jung-joo | Produced by SBS Digital News
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.