Is it child abuse if you fight in front of your children? People in their 50s who were sued, the prosecution decided not to indict

Fighting in front of my friends' children
Child charged with emotional abuse
“Resulting in excessive expansion of the scope of punishment”

A man in his 50s who was sent on charges of emotionally abusing his father by assaulting him in front of his children was acquitted by the prosecution.

According to the legal community on the 27th, the Busan District Prosecutors' Office decided not to indict Mr. A, a man in his 50s, on charges of child abuse on the 10th.

Mr. A was accused of inflicting emotional abuse on a child, including hitting Mr. B in front of his children during an argument with his acquaintance, Mr. B, in August last year. Article 17, Paragraph 5 of the Child Welfare Act strictly prohibits acts of emotional abuse that are harmful to children's mental health and development. ‘Emotional abuse’ also includes exposing children to domestic violence.

However, Mr. A denied the charges. He said there was a slight scuffle with Mr. B at the time, but there was no assault or physical contact. At the same time, he emphasized that the assault scene was not properly revealed in the CCTV footage of the scene, and that there was no objective evidence other than the statement of the victim's family.

In particular, it was argued that Mr. A's actions did not constitute emotional abuse. ‘Domestic violence’ refers to an act involving physical, mental or property damage between family members, with the intention that Mr. A cannot be considered a family member.

The police reported that Mr. A was guilty of child abuse and forwarded the case, but the prosecution decided not to indict him. The prosecution explained, “If we view all of these as ‘acts of emotional abuse’ defined by the Child Welfare Act simply because the child has been exposed to acts such as violence, virtually all criminal acts that occur in front of the child will be included in the scope of punishment, resulting in an over-expansion of criminality.” He continued, “If the suspect is merely a third party and has not inflicted direct violence or verbal abuse on the child victim, the scope of application must be reasonably interpreted in consideration of the legislative purpose and language of the Child Welfare Act when determining whether charges exist.”

Attorney Kwon Ji-hye of the Daeryun Law Firm, who represented Mr. A, said, “‘Family members’ are defined as spouses or former spouses, immediate descendants, cohabiting relatives, etc., and Mr. A did not fall into this category,” and added, “Mr. A did not intend to inflict emotional abuse on Mr. B’s children, and it appears that the prosecution judged this situation comprehensively.”

Digital Content Team

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Is it child abuse if you fight in front of your children?... People in their 50s who were sued, prosecutors' office decided not to indict (Shortcut)