Mother Who Failed to Pay Child Support Receives Suspended Prison Sentence on Appeal

The sentence for a mother who failed to pay child support for her two children after divorce, even after receiving a detention order, has been significantly increased by an appellate court.

The Daejeon District Court's Criminal Division 2-1 (Presiding Judge Park Jun-beom) announced today (June 23) that it overturned the original verdict of a 3 million won fine and sentenced the defendant, a woman in her 40s identified as A, to one year in prison, suspended for three years, for violating the Act on Securing and Supporting Child Support Payment.

The court also ordered A to undergo probation and perform 80 hours of community service.

Following her divorce in 2019, A had agreed to pay 300,000 won per month for each of her two children until they reached adulthood. However, she failed to pay the child support without a justifiable reason, leading to a detention order from the family court in 2021. She was subsequently indicted for failing to fulfill her child support obligations for over a year despite the order.

A detention order refers to the act of taking a person into custody at a detention facility, such as a police station holding cell, prison, or detention center.

The first-instance court ruled, "Child support payments are essential for creating a safe environment for raising minor children," adding, "The nature of the crime is not light, as she failed to pay child support without a justifiable reason even after receiving a detention order."

At the time, a fine of 3 million won was imposed, taking into account her difficult financial situation and the fact that she was a first-time offender with no prior criminal record.

The appellate court accepted the prosecution's appeal, which argued that the original sentence was too lenient.

The second-instance court stated, "Even after fully considering that the defendant belatedly admitted her wrongdoing and promised to pay 200,000 won per month to her children after the first trial date of the appeal—and has partially fulfilled this—the sentence imposed by the lower court was too light."

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