Photo is unrelated to the article. [Getty Images Bank]
Photo is unrelated to the article. [Getty Images Bank]

CCTV footage showing a daycare teacher abusing a 3-year-old child has been released after the teacher was referred to prosecutors on child abuse charges.

According to JTBC's "Sageon Banjang," a TV crime news program, the North Gyeongsang Province Police Agency referred a daycare teacher in her 40s, identified only as A, and the center's director in her 50s, identified as B, to prosecutors in June on charges including violations of the Child Welfare Act. Both were referred without detention.

A is accused of abusing a 3-year-old child over roughly three months beginning in April last year — force-feeding the child and stabbing the child's hands and legs with sharp pins. More than 40 incidents were confirmed through the daycare center's internal CCTV footage.

In footage aired by the program, A is seen force-feeding the child and covering the child's mouth to prevent spitting. Other clips show A grabbing the child's head and knocking the child over, stabbing the child's hands and legs with pins, and taping the child's mouth shut.

The case came to light after the child repeatedly told the parents that the teacher had been threatening them.

When the parents asked the daycare center to review the footage, director B said she checked the CCTV once a month and had seen no signs of assault. As the child's unusual behavior continued, the parents filed a police report against A in June last year.

The child's mother told the program that CCTV footage showed fellow teachers standing nearby and watching the abuse without intervening. She also said the daycare center, rather than cooperating, complained during the police investigation that bad rumors had reduced enrollment and were hurting business.

After more than a year of investigation, police charged A with child abuse and referred B to prosecutors for failing to properly supervise the teacher. However, police cleared the other daycare teachers of charges of aiding and abetting the abuse, either dropping the cases or dismissing them outright.


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