Father sentenced to 10 years for beating 3-month-old son to death
A court sentenced a man in his 30s to 10 years in prison for fatally beating his 3-month-old son after drinking at home, rejecting his claims of intoxication and lack of intent.
An image shows a father-like figure abusing a childJOONGANG ILBO
A man in his 30s has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for beating his 3-month-old son to death after inviting a sex worker to his home and drinking with her, according to legal sources on Wednesday.
The Changwon District Court recently handed down the defendant a 10-year jail term after convicting him of child abuse murder under the Special Act on Cases concerning the Punishment of Child Abuse Crimes. The court also ordered him to complete a 40-hour child abuse prevention program and barred him from working at child-related institutions for 10 years.
Prosecutors indicted the defendant for beating his 3-month-old son to death in his crib at the family's home in Gimhae, South Gyeongsang, at around 2 a.m. on Nov. 24 last year.
Two days before the assault, the defendant argued with his wife over his drinking and financial problems. The wife then left the home.
The following day, he dropped the infant while bathing him but failed to seek medical treatment. Later that day, he invited a sex worker to the residence, where the two drank about four bottles of soju and 1.5 liters (51 ounces) of draft beer.
After the woman left, the defendant became enraged over his ongoing conflict with his wife, the stress of an unplanned birth and raising a child and his frustration at not being able to drink as heavily as he wanted because of his wife's objections.
The Changwon District Court in South GyeongsangYONHAP
Investigators said he then assaulted his son.
The wife returned home later that night. The following morning, after feeding the baby formula and laying him down, she discovered that he was no longer breathing and called emergency services. The infant was taken to a hospital but was pronounced dead.
The defendant argued that he had no intent to kill the child and that he had been in a state of diminished capacity due to intoxication. However, the court rejected those claims.
"I was extremely intoxicated, with stress over my wife mixed with stress about not being ready to become a father, and I struck the child forcefully while venting my anger in the room where he was," the defendant had told investigators. "I think the force was enough to fracture the baby's skull."
The court said the defendant's inhumanity was beyond forgiveness.
"The victim, who was only 3 months old, was completely abandoned by his parents and ended his short life suffering unimaginable pain, including a fractured skull and severe bleeding — pain that would be difficult even for an adult to endure," the court said.
"Given the circumstances of the crime, the means employed and the outcome, the defendant's inhumanity is difficult to forgive. Even so, the defendant continues to deny any intent to kill and has shown no sincere remorse.”
The court noted that it would be appropriate to separate him from society for a considerable period to make him genuinely repent and live with a sense of atonement toward the child.
BY KIM JI-HYE [lee.soojung1@joongang.co.kr]
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
