Last year, a newborn died at a motel in Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi Province, shortly after birth. The infant's father has now been indicted over the case.
According to legal officials, the Gongju branch of the Daejeon District Prosecutors' Office indicted and detained a man in his 20s, identified only as A, on Wednesday. He faces charges of aiding and abetting child abuse resulting in death and fraud in connection with the newborn's death at the Uijeongbu motel.
A is accused of collecting money from his then-girlfriend, identified as B, last year after she became pregnant. He told her he would find a hospital and took the funds as an abortion fee. After B missed the window for an abortion, A allegedly told her he had "hired a doctor to kill the baby after birth." He then collected additional money from her under that false pretense, an investigation found.
A took no further action, however, and B gave birth alone at a motel in Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi Province, in December 2025. The newborn was left in a sink for about 12 minutes and died.
A used the 3.09 million won ($2,300) he had collected under the pretext of abortion costs and fees for a fake doctor on gambling and motel bills, the investigation found.
B initially filed a fraud complaint against A, and police, after confirming the fraud charge, referred him to prosecutors without detaining him. Prosecutors then examined records related to the newborn's death, bank account transactions, a forensic analysis of A's phone and DNA testing. They found that A had not simply taken the money but had also encouraged B to commit the crime.
B was separately tried on a charge of child abuse resulting in death and was sentenced to six years in prison in the first trial.
The court held B responsible for the killing on the basis of conditional intent. It cited her failure to seek help or report to a medical institution despite being able to foresee that the newborn could die shortly after birth. The court also found that B intended to abandon or let the child die, noting that she had made almost no preparations for the period after giving birth.
The court explained its sentencing, saying, "We considered that the defendant had suffered in silence without being able to tell those around her about the pregnancy, that she appears to have been unable to make sound judgments in a state of panic after giving birth with no plan in place, that this is her first offense, and that she has acknowledged her wrongdoing to some extent."
Both B and prosecutors have appealed the ruling, and the case is now under appellate review.
bbo@heraldcorp.com
