Father who beat 42-day-old son to death loses appeal, sentenced again to 13 years

A man in his 30s charged with killing his 42-day-old son and abandoning the body was sentenced again to 13 years in prison after losing his appeal.

The Second Criminal Division of the Daegu High Court, presided over by Judge Won Ho-shin, dismissed appeals by both the defendant and the prosecution on Wednesday, upholding the original 13-year sentence against the man, identified only as A, who was indicted on charges of violating the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment of Child Abuse Crimes.

In the appeal, A argued that while he had struck his son, he had no intent to kill, claiming the lower court had misread the facts and misapplied the law.

The presiding judge rejected that argument. "It is reasonable to conclude that the defendant, at the time he struck the victim, recognized or foresaw the risk of death resulting from his actions and proceeded regardless — and therefore intent is established," the judge said.

The court also found no grounds to overturn the original ruling. "Upon careful review of the lower court's judgment and the submitted evidence, there are no reasonable circumstances suggesting that upholding the lower court's findings would be manifestly unjust," the judge said. "The lower court's judgment is proper."

On the question of sentencing, the court was unsparing. "The defendant, as the child's own father, committed a brutal, inhumane and unconscionable crime," the judge said. "Given the circumstances, nature, gravity, danger and unlawfulness of the offense, the moral culpability is extremely heavy and the potential for social condemnation is great — making severe punishment commensurate with that culpability unavoidable."

The court added that even accounting for the fact that the killing was unpremeditated and that A had turned himself in, a heavy sentence remained appropriate when weighing all sentencing factors, including his conduct, background, family circumstances, and the manner and consequences of the crime. It also noted that the original sentence did not deviate significantly from the sentencing range in similar cases and that no new mitigating factors had emerged.

A was indicted after beating his 42-day-old son to death at an apartment in Guji-myeon, Dalseong-gun, Daegu, on Sept. 10 last year, because the infant would not stop crying, then abandoning the body on a nearby hill in the early hours of the following morning.