Mother who abandoned teenage son receives suspended sentence on appeal

A woman in her 40s who moved away with her daughters while leaving her teenage son behind and cutting off all contact has had her suspended prison sentence upheld on appeal.

The first criminal appeals division of the Cheongju District Court upheld a lower court ruling that sentenced the woman, identified only as A, to 10 months in prison suspended for two years on charges of child abandonment and neglect under the Child Welfare Act.

The court dismissed the prosecution's appeal, finding that "it is difficult to conclude that the original sentencing fell outside the reasonable bounds of judicial discretion," and affirmed the lower court's ruling.

A was indicted after moving out of a detached house in Heungdeok-gu, Cheongju, in March last year, taking her three daughters with her while leaving her 16-year-old son, identified as B, behind.

Investigators found that A had not told her son about the move and had changed her phone number afterward to conceal her new address.

She also sent a text message to the landlord asking that her son be removed from the house the day after the move.

Left suddenly on his own, B spent several days in the house without heating and with little food. The landlord found him three days later and handed him over to police.

The lower court found that A's culpability was not light, given the circumstances of the offense and what followed. "In light of how the crime was committed and the subsequent situation, the degree of blame cannot be considered minor, and there is considerable grounds for moral censure," the court said.

However, it added that the sentence took into account that "the defendant is responsible for three daughters in addition to the victim child, and has long been struggling with financial hardship."

Prosecutors had appealed, arguing the original sentence was too lenient, but the court rejected their argument.

[단독] 검사의 실수, 증거와 공소장에 적힌 음주운전 날짜가 다르다…대법원 파기환송[세상&]

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