Woman in mysterious child death case given suspended prison term by appeals court

The Korea Times

The Korea Times

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Sat, December 9, 2023 | 17:12

Law & Crime

Woman in mysterious child death case given suspended prison term by appeals court

Posted : 2023-02-02 16:26

Updated : 2023-02-04 11:53

A Gumi woman, surnamed Seok, leaves the Gimcheon branch of the Daegu District Court in Gimcheon, southeastern Korea, after attending a hearing in a case involving the deaths of two girls, in this Aug. 17, 2021, file photo. Yonhap

A woman was given a suspended prison term in an appeal hearing Thursday, after previously being found guilty in a trial over the mysterious disappearance and deaths of two 3-year-old girls.

Reducing an earlier prison term of eight years, the appellate division of the Daegu District Court sentenced the 50-year-old woman, surnamed Seok, to two years in prison, suspended for three years.

The court also reversed the guilty ruling that stated Seok had switched her 3-year-old daughter with her granddaughter of the same age years ago in the southeastern city of Gumi.

The case first surfaced in 2021 when the mummified remains of a 3-year-old girl were found at the former home of Seok's daughter, surnamed Kim. The girl was suspected of having died from starvation up to six months earlier.

However, it was only later found through DNA tests that Kim was not the mother of the girl, but her older sister. The child's supposed grandmother was in fact the biological mother.

Based on the DNA results, prosecutors added a child abduction charge against Seok by alleging that the two women gave birth around the same time and that their babies were switched at birth.

Prosecutors alleged that Seok had unloaded her newborn onto her eldest daughter to raise with her then husband. Kim had raised her younger sister by thinking that she was her daughter.

Seok, however, said she had not given birth to another child, insisting the DNA results were false. The whereabouts of the missing child remain unclear.

In previous rulings, the district and appeals courts had acknowledged the biological relationship between Seok and the dead girl, convicting her of switching the babies.

The Supreme Court, however, struck down the verdict, saying the DNA test results cannot stand as evidence for Seok's alleged switching of the babies.

On Thursday, the appellate court sided with the top court, acquitting Seok of switching babies and only convicting her of attempting to dispose of the body. (Yonhap)

The mysterious case of the deaths of two 3-year-old girls first surfaced in 2021 when the mummified remains of one were found at the former home of the accused's daughter. The girl is suspected of having have died from starvation up to six months before the discovery of her body. Yonhap