Worker repeatedly abused resident at welfare facility

Referred to prosecutors on charges including injury causing death

[Herald DB]
[Herald DB]

A social worker in his or her 20s who shoved a severely disabled resident at a welfare facility to death has been referred to prosecutors while in detention.

According to the Bundang Police Station in Gyeonggi Province, police sent the social worker, identified only as A, to prosecutors on Aug. 6 on charges including injury causing death and violations of the Act on Welfare of Persons with Disabilities.

A is accused of forcefully pushing a resident in his 50s, identified as B, at a facility for people with disabilities in Bundang-gu, Seongnam, on July 21, causing B to fall and sustain fatal injuries.

B fell backward and suffered severe head injuries, losing consciousness before being rushed to a hospital. B died two days later, on July 23.

A had worked at the facility as a residential support worker responsible for assisting and managing residents' daily lives. Investigators found that A had repeatedly grabbed and shoved B during the week before the incident. Police said A used physical force against B again on the day of the incident, ultimately causing the victim's death.

"The victim was a severely disabled person with no guardian who had lived at the facility for 26 years before this happened," a police official said. "We applied the charge of injury causing death after analyzing closed-circuit television footage from inside the facility."

Police referred A to prosecutors and are also looking into whether there are any additional victims.


jshan@heraldcorp.com