Three Reports of Child Abuse Couldn’t Save Jung In

K-POP stars, including BTS Jimin, took a stand for the 16-month-old baby to ensure this never happened again— #SorryJungIn

Jung In was born on June 10th, 2019, with adorable flushed cheeks, melting heart of everyone she met. She was healthy and all smiles. Though, 8 days later, she had to be moved into a foster home as her biological mother could not raise her. But, in just 2 months, it seemed like the perfect family wanted to adopt Jung In.

The foster mother had a good impression of the couple and mentioned that the adoptive mother surnamed Jang, was an interpreter with a bright personality. Jang showed that she cared and was serious about the adoption as she visited Jung In every month in the foster home. The couple were also experienced parents as they already have a 4-year-old daughter.

A loving family with an established career.

It really seemed that Jung In would have a beautiful future ahead of her.

The Tragedy

Less than a year, 271 days after officially being adopted, Jung In passed away.

Jung In arrived at the ER with a cardiac arrest. The adoptive mother, Jang, claimed that Jung In fell from the couch, but her extensive injuries were not consistent with her story. Jung In had multiple bruises and scars on her body. The X-ray scan showed that Jung In had multiple healed fractured bones and healing fractured bones, while the CT scan showed her abdominal region was filled with blood that was likely caused by ruptured internal organs where it later became infected.

In SBS ‘Unanswered Question’, Ihn Nam Koong, a specialist, said

“This picture is almost a textbook-level child abuse case.”

She was bleeding internally for days, but that was not the cause of death.

It was an abdominal trauma from an external force that killed her. Based on the damage to Jung In’s pancreas, experts estimated a brutal external force was forced onto Jung In. The pancreas is located at the back part of the cavity. That meant the external force was so great to be able to pass the front organ, such as the stomach and damaged the pancreas. Experts also believed that Jung In was likely pressed against something when the force hit.

On October 12th, 2020, the day before her death, a CCTV from the daycare center captured Jung In being in an apathetic state, an emotionless or a state of indifference. She did not want to join the other children and refused to eat as it caused unbearable pain. She merely sipped some milk, but it was likely because she was so dehydrated, and because of those few sips, her shoulder shook in pain.

The teacher continued to comfort her as she sat Jung In on her lap. Worried, she searched her body for injuries, and she noticed her stomach was bloated, which later revealed it was from internal bleeding.

So, why didn’t the teacher report it?

She was afraid of getting another complaint from the adoptive mother where she might move Jung In to another place, and they would no longer have tabs on Jung In anymore. After all, that did happen when they filed the first report.

On March 24th, 2020, the daycare center filed the first report as there was a big red mark that later turned into a bruise on the baby’s face. They found bruises on her cheek and thighs, but the adoptive mother claimed that it was from abrasion and a massage gone too rough. The police did not take any action simply because there weren’t any fractures or open scars.

After the report, the adoptive mother stopped bring Jung In to the daycare center for more than two months. When she returned to the daycare, Jung In completely changed. She was no longer smiling, and most importantly, she lost 2 pounds even though she should be gaining weight at that age.

The teachers took her to the hospital, and the pediatrician alerted the police. But once again, there weren’t any actions taken. Once again, the adoptive mother grew even more anxious against the daycare center and filed another complaint against the daycare center.

On June 29th, 2020, a hot and sunny day in the summer, a family friend of Jang noticed that baby Jung In was left in the car alone for more than an hour. But, it took over a month for the investigation to begin, and by then, CCTV footage from the street had already been erased.

The Irony

During the first report, the father even claimed that the public was prejudiced against them as supposedly Jung In had severe atopic dermatitis on her cheeks, and she had a lot of birthmarks where the public mistaken them for bruises.

However, Professor Ji Young Ahn said that Jung In did not have the symptoms of atopic dermatitis, and Dr. Seung Yong Chung also disputed the alleged birthmarks as many of them were purplish, like a bruise.

For a family that neglected and abused a defenseless child, the family even shamelessly appeared with Jung In in a television show, ‘One Average Family’ saying,

“adoption is something to be celebrated.”

The 3rd and the last report was filed by a pediatrician, but the police did not separate the toddler from the adoptive parents once again.

Justice

With the findings from the forensic, the prosecutor added a murder charge against Jang, who initially was only charged with child abuse resulting in death, while the husband, Ahn, was charged with negligence and child abuse. Jang, who claimed that Jung In fell from the couch, changed her statement to

“ there were times when she acted violently against her, such as “dropping” ,“pushing” and “shaking” her, which resulted in bone fractures.”

The nation’s police chief apologized on behalf of the police department for inadequate investigation. The support on SNS (Social Media) from Korean celebrities such BTS Jimin, Uhm Jung Hwa, Lee Min Jung and coverages on this story by SBS and Asian Boss served as a catalyst where #정인아_미안해 (Sorry Jungin-ah) #SorryJungIn trended. It was able to spread awareness on child abuse and the failure of the justice system to protect the children who could not protect themselves.

More than 200,000 petitions were signed to pressure the government to protect innocent children. With the pressure from the public, 18 bills were passed to prevent child abuse where one of the major changes included the removal of a clause that allowed parents to “take necessary disciplinary action” to a child. For context, in some households, especially in an Asian household, parents occasionally discipline a child with physical actions such as caning them. These bills also gave the police more authority where now, they can launch an investigation immediately with suspected child abuse.

The second trial will be held on February 17th, 2020, with the prosecution calling in more witnesses. I will be updating this article as the trial continues.

Update (24/02/2021): At the moment, there weren’t any English-written articles on this, but JTBC news did cover it in Korean.

Update (14/06/2021): In May 2021, the adoptive mother, Jang, was sentenced to life in prison, while the adoptive father, Ahn, was sentenced to 5 years in prison. However, the citizens were not satisfied with the ruling and held a protest, demanding the death penalty for Jang.

You too can take a stand by spreading awareness through social media through #SorryJungIn and even donate to UNICEF Korea, UNICEF USA or Prevent Child Abuse America according to your means.

#SorryJungIn

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