Mother who starved 19-month-old daughter to death sentenced to 12 years in prison

A mother who left her 19-month-old daughter alone for extended periods without adequate food, causing the infant to die of malnutrition and dehydration, was sentenced to 12 years in prison.

The 14th Criminal Division of the Incheon District Court, presided over by Judge Son Seung-beom, sentenced the 30-year-old woman, identified only as A, on Friday after she was indicted on charges of child abuse homicide and related offenses under the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment of Child Abuse Crimes. The court also ordered her to complete 200 hours of a child abuse treatment program and barred her from working at child-related institutions for 10 years.

The court reviewed the case record and evidence submitted by prosecutors and determined it was difficult to conclude that A had intended to kill her daughter, identified as B. It acquitted her of the child abuse homicide charge and instead found her guilty of child abuse resulting in death.

Clinical psychological assessments showed A has borderline intellectual functioning, with limited awareness of parental responsibility and restricted knowledge of and attention to child-rearing. "It is difficult to evaluate the defendant by the same standard as an ordinary person with average intellectual ability," the court said.

The court added that A appeared to have purchased expensive formula on the recommendation of people around her who noticed the child was too thin. Home camera footage also showed A trying to feed B solid food but switching to formula when the child refused.

"Medical opinion holds that formula alone, if given in sufficient amounts, can sustain life," the court said, adding that given A's intellectual limitations, she may have made the misguided choice to give only formula in an attempt to help B gain weight after the child refused solid food.

A was indicted on charges of neglecting B at their home in Namdong-gu, Incheon, in March, leading to the child's death from malnutrition and dehydration. B weighed 4.7 kilograms at the time of her death — less than half the average weight of 10.4 kilograms for girls her age. The investigation found that A had grown to regard child-rearing as a burden and, from early this year, began withholding adequate food from B and leaving her alone at home for long stretches.

A failed to take B to a hospital even as the child's weight dropped sharply and she became too weak to hold her own bottle. A also left B home alone for extended periods while going out with family members to jjimjilbang saunas and amusement parks.

A received more than 3 million won ($2,150) per month in public assistance — including welfare payments and child allowances — as a basic livelihood recipient and single-parent household. She also collected food supplies monthly from a food bank for vulnerable families, the investigation found.

"The defendant left the victim child alone and went out for extended periods, and also lied to others by implying that someone was caring for the child," the court said. "She was not in a financial situation that prevented her from providing food, yet she took no meaningful action, ultimately causing the child to starve to death — making her culpability extremely high."

The court added that even though B was an infant who had not yet developed a sense of self, the suffering she endured from being denied adequate food by her own mother must have been immeasurable. It also noted that A's first child had been subjected to abuse, including being left in unsanitary conditions and physically assaulted, and said severe punishment commensurate with the gravity of the offenses was warranted.

However, the court acknowledged that A had largely admitted to the facts of the case and had faced difficulties raising her children alone while living with borderline intellectual functioning. In explaining the sentence, it said it had weighed her family background, the absence of any prior criminal record beyond a fine, the motive and consequences of the offense, and the circumstances following the crime.