Nurses who posted 'want to drop' newborns on social media indicted for abuse

Two nurses accused of physically abusing newborns in the neonatal intensive care unit of a university hospital in Daegu have been indicted. The case drew widespread public outrage last year after one of the nurses posted photos on social media of herself holding a patient's infant alongside captions including "want to drop them" — an expression implying a desire to let the baby fall and be injured.

The Daegu District Prosecutors' Office's women and children crimes division indicted the two nurses, identified only as A and B, both women in their 20s, on Tuesday on charges of violating the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment of Child Abuse, specifically the aggravated punishment provision for workers at child welfare facilities.

According to prosecutors, Nurse A is accused of repeatedly abusing newborns in the NICU at Daegu Catholic University Hospital between October 2024 and March last year — scratching their stomachs and backs with her fingernails multiple times without any apparent reason, pulling their hair, and pressing hard on their faces.

A is also accused of photographing infants while holding them or placing them on her lap, then posting the images on her personal social media account with captions such as "want to drop them," "my anger management issues are flaring up," and "just go to sleep."

Nurse B is accused of abusing newborns in the same NICU between October 2024 and January last year by pushing or forcefully pressing their cheeks with her fingers and striking the anterior fontanelle — the soft spot at the front of the skull — with her palm. B is also suspected of filming A's abuse on her mobile phone at A's request.

The police investigation began in April last year after the parents of an infant featured in A's social media posts filed a complaint. Officers identified additional evidence of abuse through videos found on the two nurses' seized mobile phones. Police said at the time that the NICU had no closed-circuit television cameras, so they secured evidence through search and seizure warrants and mobile phone forensic analysis.

In July of that year, prosecutors sought arrest warrants for both nurses at police's request, but a court rejected them. The court determined there was no risk of flight and no risk of evidence destruction, given that videos and photos related to the alleged offenses had already been secured.

Police referred the case to prosecutors that same month under the child abuse punishment law. After conducting supplementary investigations, including a suspect interview with A, prosecutors concluded that the abuse charges against both nurses were substantiated and indicted them.