The news of that day has passed, but its meaning remains with us today. "Today's That Day" reads the present through records of the past.
April 22, 2024. A parent who threw a feces-smeared diaper at a daycare teacher received a suspended prison sentence. Judge Ko Young-sik of the Daejeon District Court's 9th Criminal Division sentenced A, a woman in her 40s charged with assault, to six months in prison suspended for two years. The court also ordered 80 hours of community service.
A struck the face of daycare teacher B, a woman in her 60s, with her second son's feces-soiled diaper inside a hospital bathroom in Sejong at around 4:20 p.m. on September 10, 2023, causing injuries requiring two weeks of treatment. Human waste covered B's face, clothes and glasses at the time.
A had suspected abuse after her first son was injured at the daycare. On the day of the incident, A, who was at the hospital where her second child was admitted, called B and said, "I need to check the CCTV installed at the daycare. I will file an abuse complaint," according to accounts.
B and the daycare director subsequently visited the children's hospital to speak with A. While talking with B, A committed the act out of anger, the investigation found.
"The nature of the crime is bad, including the fact that the defendant struck the face of the victim, who had come to talk, with a feces-smeared diaper and caused injury, and the teacher would have felt humiliation and psychological shock," the court said in explaining the sentence. "We considered that the defendant acknowledges the crime and that the injuries were not severe."
◇ Six-Month Prison Term Finalized = The appellate court, which accepted the prosecution's appeal that "the sentence was light," sentenced A to six months in prison in April last year. "Viewed through common social norms, deliberately smearing filth on another person's face, whether planned or impulsive, carries an intent to humiliate the other party," the appellate court said.
"The defendant did not simply throw the diaper but rubbed it against the victim's face to the extent that the victim's glasses were broken and considerable feces were smeared on the victim's face, hair, upper garment and lens — which we judge to indicate a bad nature of the crime," the court said. "Even while this investigation was ongoing, the defendant filed multiple child abuse complaints against the victim, all of which resulted in non-indictment decisions."
After the prison sentence was handed down, A reportedly cried, saying: "I have two young children and no one to raise them. I have reflected deeply. Please give me a chance." A, who received a harsher prison sentence at the appellate level than at the original trial, filed a further appeal but later withdrew it, finalizing the sentence.
◇ 'Petition on Protection of Daycare Teachers' = The case drew public attention after C, B's husband, posted on the National Assembly's public petition site. "Have you ever seen a feces slap? I've seen kimchi slaps in soap operas, but I never thought I'd see a feces slap in real life," C wrote. "I saw a photo of half of my wife's face covered in feces." He added: "Bad teachers can be punished, but what about teachers who cannot avoid bad parents? Please institutionalize a shield that allows teachers to defend themselves."
A claimed child abuse in an interview with a media outlet, saying: "Throwing the diaper was wrong. I did not act rationally." She added: "One day my child said he was afraid to sleep alone in a dark room. When I asked the teacher, she said, 'There were times when the child wanted it.' Because of the teacher's negligence, our child was neglected, sleeping alone in a separate space."
◇ Half of Kindergarten Teachers Leave Within Two Years = Meanwhile, an increasing number of kindergarten teachers are leaving the field due to work stress from heavy workloads and parent complaints. According to disclosure data from Kindergarten Alimi, as of October last year, among 40,340 teachers at 7,449 kindergartens nationwide, 11,684 (29.0%) had worked less than one year and 7,950 (19.7%) had worked between one and two years. That means 48.7% of all teachers had not completed two years at their current institution.
