Mother who left 52-day-old daughter alone to go drinking gets prison term

A woman in her 20s who left her two-month-old daughter home alone for about six hours to go drinking with an acquaintance — resulting in the infant's death — was sentenced to prison and taken into custody at her first-instance trial.

The 15th Criminal Division of Suwon District Court (presiding judge Jeong Yun-seop) sentenced the defendant, identified only as A, to two years and six months in prison on charges of violating the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment of Child Abuse Crimes (child abuse resulting in death), according to Yonhap on Thursday. The court also ordered her to complete 40 hours of a child abuse treatment program and barred her from working at child-related institutions for three years. A was taken into custody immediately after sentencing.

A was indicted on charges of leaving her two-month-old daughter unattended at their home in Yeongtong-gu, Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, for about six hours starting around 11 p.m. on March 29, resulting in the child's death.

Investigators found that A, who had been raising the child on her own, left home that day to drink with an acquaintance.

The infant was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment but died on March 31. She had never received any vaccinations or other preventive medical care during her short life.

The court said the victim had been born premature and required special care, yet the defendant had failed to take adequate hygiene measures and could not be considered to have properly raised the child. The court went on to say that A "abandoned a 52-day-old child for about six hours for her own entertainment," adding that "the victim, left alone without her sole caregiver, is believed to have suffered extreme pain — crying out for care until she died — and the defendant's culpability is grave."

However, the court said it took into account that A had confessed to the crime and shown remorse, and that she had learned of her pregnancy after breaking up with her former boyfriend and had been unable to adequately prepare for childbirth. The court also considered as mitigating factors that she had been caring for the child with help from those around her prior to the incident, and that she had called 112 after noticing the child's abnormal condition and attempted to seek help.