Parents call for heavy punishment of daycare center staff for abusing disabled children

A captured image from a surveillance camera shows staff at a public daycare center in Incheon grilling meat to eat while unattended children watch a video on a laptop during operating hours. Yonhap

By Bahk Eun-ji

Parents are calling for heavy punishment for staff at a public daycare center in Incheon, who were booked on charges of abusing children with disabilities.

Members of the Incheon Disabled Peoples' Association, the Incheon Differently Abled Federation, the Korean Parents' Network for People with Disabilities and the parents of the children of the daycare center held a press conference in front of the Incheon Seo District Office building, Monday. They called for strong punitive actions and measures to prevent the recurrence of such cases.

It was reported earlier that six staff of the daycare center abused 10 children, aged one to six who had disabilities, between November and December last year ― beating them, pulling a girl's hair and dragging her, and leaving them unattended.

“Shown in the surveillance camera footage, the acts of abuse by the teachers were unimaginably brutal, and the center was just hell,” a woman who identified herself as the mother of an autistic child said in the press conference.

“One staff member who appeared to be three to four times heavier than my child, who weighs less than 20 kilograms, swung a large pillow in the air and hit my child with it,” she said. “When I saw the teacher approaching my child again, who already looked frightened, pressing down on his body, I thought that this was not something a human could do.”

Another parent of an abused child claimed that her child had been crying for two to three hours every night, and also harmed himself by throwing himself on the floor.

In one captured image disclosed by the parents, the staff of the daycare center sat around grilling meat during lunch time, when they were supposed to be taking care of the children.

“The children were sitting on a mat in the room, watching a video on a laptop, while the teachers were grilling meat next to them,” the parent said.

The parents and rights groups also criticized the local government for handling the case improperly.

“The head of the daycare center, who has been charged with negligence regarding the abuse, is still working at another daycare center after her resignation. The district office's follow-up measures have been disappointing, and support for the victims was also insufficient,” the groups said.

The six staffers in their 20s and 30s were recently booked by police on charges of violating the Special Act on the Punishment of Child Abuse Crimes.

The head of the daycare center was also booked on charges of failure to fulfill her duties of adequate management, supervision and caution.