“Please don’t tell Mom—she’ll be sad” ... ‘English kindergarten’ instructor who hit a three-year-old student also gets a suspended prison sentence on appeal

[Financial News] An instructor at a so-called “English kindergarten” who abused students, including by hitting a three-year-old student on the forehead, was also sentenced to prison with the sentence suspended on appeal.
According to Yonhap News Agency and other outlets on the 25th, the Incheon District Court’s Criminal Appeals Division 2-3, presided over by Judge Shin Sun-young, dismissed both the appeals by A (50) and the prosecution. A had been indicted for violating the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment, etc. of Child Abuse Crimes. The court upheld the original sentence of eight months in prison, suspended for two years.
A was indicted on charges of physically and emotionally abusing four students, including B, a boy who was three at the time, at an English academy for young children in Yeonsu-gu, Incheon, in May 2023.
The investigation found that A struck a student on the forehead with an open palm and pulled the student’s ear for not bringing a utensil case or not eating properly. A excluded some students from class and made them stay in the academy hallway for more than 30 minutes, and also ate snacks in front of students who were being punished.
B reportedly told investigators, “I was hit hard on the forehead and cried,” and, “Please don’t tell my mom; she’ll be sad.”
The first-trial court found A not guilty of some of the allegations, including pulling back the chair of a student who was not eating and grabbing and shaking the student, and sentenced A to eight months in prison, suspended for two years.
A appealed, arguing that statements by some of the child victims were not credible and that A’s actions were legitimate discipline intended to teach rules for living in a group. The prosecution also appealed, arguing that A should be found guilty of the emotional-abuse charge the lower court had dismissed. The appeals court rejected both sides’ arguments.
The appeals court ruled, “There was no legal error in the lower court’s finding that the victimized children’s statements were credible,” and “The lower court was justified in finding the defendant guilty, since the defendant’s actions could impede the children’s normal development or harm their mental health.”
The court explained its sentencing decision, saying, “It was not proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the conduct constituted emotional abuse serious enough to impair mental health and development,” and, “There has been no special change in circumstances since the lower court’s ruling that would warrant changing the sentence, and the sentence imposed at trial did not exceed the reasonable bounds of the court’s discretion.”
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