Woman who moved out without telling her teenage son found guilty of child neglect

A woman who secretly moved out with her daughters while leaving her teenage son behind and cutting off all contact with him was given a suspended prison sentence for child neglect.

[KOREA JOONGANG DAILY]

A woman who secretly moved out with her daughters while leaving her teenage son behind and cutting off all contact with him was given a suspended prison sentence for child neglect.

The Cheongju District Court sentenced the woman to 10 months in prison, suspended for two years, for violating the Child Welfare Act, the court said on Saturday. It also ordered her to attend 40 hours of child abuse prevention education.

The woman moved out of a villa in Heungdeok District, Cheongju, on March 25 with her three daughters.

Authorities found that she did not notify her son that they were moving and changed her phone number after relocating.

On the day she moved out with her daughters, she reportedly asked the landlord of the villa to “make the son leave the house the following day” in a text message.

The boy was found by the landlord three days later, alone in the unheated home with little access to food. He was then handed over to the police.

“This case cannot be treated lightly due to the circumstances and what followed, and the defendant bears significant blame,” the judge said. “However, the sentence also considers that the defendant is responsible for three other children and has long been suffering financially.”

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom. BY KIM EUN-BIN [yoon.soyeon@joongang.co.kr]