Welfare Facility Worker Fined for Abusing Disabled Resident with Lighter

A welfare facility employee who abused a person with a disability because they would not listen has been sentenced to a fine.

According to the legal community on November 2, Judge Kim Joo-shik of Criminal Division 13 at the Cheonan Branch of the Daejeon District Court sentenced A (53), who was indicted for violating the Welfare of Persons with Disabilities Act, to a fine of 7 million won.

The court also issued a three-year employment ban at disability-related institutions.

A, who worked at a welfare facility for people with disabilities in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province, was put on trial for holding a lighter flame to the abdomen of B, an individual with an intellectual disability, causing burns inside the facility in April 2025.

Investigations revealed that A committed the act because B failed to follow instructions.

Judge Kim stated, "The sentence was determined by comprehensively considering factors such as the confession to the crime and the fact that it is a first offense."

(Photo: Yonhap News)
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