Input 2021.01.07 06:00
Report on Child Abuse by the National Assembly Legislative Investigation Office warns of similar cases
National Police Commissioner, public apology and jurisdiction Yangcheon Chief on standby
“Even though a child’s scar is found and immediate action is required, the police notification may be delayed. The district team first goes and takes pictures of the child’s scars first, and the parents are a little more favorable, so the child is returned to the home.”
“In some cases, when the police submit a child abuse case as a simple domestic violence case in the initial site investigation, or if it is recognized as a disturbance and only admonitions, a notification omission may occur.”
Amid criticism that the child abuse safety net in our society was not working properly due to the so-called “Jung In-i case,” where a 16-month-old adopted child died due to the abuse of her adoptive parents, the National Assembly Legislative Investigation Department already reported that the police who received a child abuse report in August last year were serious. On the 7th, it appeared on the 7th that a report was released saying that there are frequent cases of responding lukewarmly to the handling of cases without being aware of this.
The police reported suspicion of abuse several times at the daycare center and pediatrics where Jung In-i attended last year, but dismissed it three times. It means that the police’s uneasy response to the child abuse case was widespread even before the’Jung In-i incident’ occurred. Police Commissioner Kim Chang-ryong for this case apologized on the previous day (6th), saying, “I feel a deep sense of responsibility as the chief officer,” and the Seoul Yangcheon Chief, the agency in charge, was placed on standby.
On August 13, last year, the National Assembly’s Legislative Investigation Department reported, “The task and improvement direction of the child abuse response system”, a report containing the voices of practitioners of child care institutions, “(A specialized child protection agency) He pointed out that there were many cases of complaining of difficulties due to lack of awareness of abuse, information error or misunderstanding.”
Practitioners of specialized child protection organizations complained that police officers who first dispatch after receiving 112 reports still perceive child abuse as discipline. In the report, the head of the case management team said, “There are cases in which child abuse is recognized as a discipline for the child’s problem behavior, and the initial action measures are insufficient”, and director B said, “Because the awareness or sensitivity of the Earth is low, (the case) ends itself. I do it,” he said.
Examples of information errors were also frequent. The head of the field investigation team C said, “There are cases where the contact information was completely changed or the name of the actor was completely changed in the data provided by the police.” “I said.
In addition, he pointed out that there are many cases where investigation, prosecution, disposition, and punishment are not made even in the case of complaints and charges. “There is almost no punishment. The risk level is high, such as sexual abuse or physical violence, and if it goes to killing or serious injuries, it goes to punishment.” “Otherwise, domestic violence or most abuses
It ends in a form of disposition such as an education order.” Director B said, “Even if we go to trial, most judges say,’Do you reflect? It’s irreplaceable, and it often ends in one line,” he said.
The police’s uneasy response to the child abuse case was repeated in the case of Jung In-i. Reports of suspected abuse against Jung In-yang were filed with the police three times last year. In May of last year, a nursery teacher, an acquaintance of the perpetrator in June, and a pediatrician in September reported that Jung In-yang’s weight loss and injury were reported, but the police closed the case without charge because no specific evidence of abuse was found.
However, the police pointed out that the cause of the incident was’excessive responsibility, frequent complaints, and institutional obstacles’ in the’Review of legal and institutional measures related to the Yangcheon child abuse death case’ submitted by Jung In to the National Assembly’s Administrative Safety Committee in connection with the case the day before. .
The police said, “The work and responsibilities for dealing with abuse are heavy, but the individual on-site workers are responsible for the complaints and responsibilities even when filing frequent complaints. It is difficult to check whether there is any damage outside the reporting site.” In addition, the Ministry of Health and Welfare, which is responsible for child abuse, and the National Police Agency said that there is a need for joint jurisdiction. It was consistent as an excuse that the National Police Agency was not the subject of responsibility.
Park Seon-kwon, a legislative investigator of the Women’s Team for Health and Welfare, said, “With the current child abuse response system, it is the reality that the district police must first dispatch to the child abuse site in the event of an incident,” he said. “There is a need to improve the police’s awareness of child abuse and case investigation education. I said. He added, “It is necessary to expand education and share awareness of child abuse by revising the Act on Special Cases concerning the Punishment of Child Abuse Crimes.”
The politics’ response to the North Korea is also being criticized. There are a total of 11 bills proposed in the three days after the case of Jung In-i was announced through a broadcast report on the 2nd. The power of the people Kim Yong-pan, Kim Byeong-wook, Kim Jeong-jae, and Kim Seong-won, as well as Democratic Party lawmakers Kang Hoon-sik and Noh Woong-rae each issued a bill. Rep. Woong-Rae Noh proposed the’No Child Abuse Tolerance Act’, which doubles the level of punishment for child abuse and lethality from the current five years and discloses the identity of child abuse offenders. I put it in the bill.
It is pointed out that the ruling and opposition parties agreed to deal with the “prevention of the law” at the plenary session of the National Assembly on the 8th, and controversy over 90 related bills pending in the National Assembly and the newly proposed bills could rise. A political official said, “I doubt whether the bill can be properly reviewed within two days,” and said, “The bill should not be processed as a show.”
