16mo Korean Toddler Dies From Repeated Abuse, Police Ignored Multiple Reports & Warnings

#JungInImSorry trends across Twitter as a testament to how the authorities let a baby die despite multiple warnings.

Jung In, a 16-month-old baby was reportedly adopted by Jang and Ahn purely for “clout purposes” and they ended up abusing her till her untimely demise on 13 October 2020.

A Korean documentary show known as, Unanswered Questions, aired its latest episode regarding the trauma Jung In faced throughout her abuse during the 271 days she was adopted by the family. Koreaboo reported that Professor Namkoong Ihn from the ER department at Ewha Mokdong Hospital in Seoul, where Jung In was admitted before passing away, revealed the devastating test results that showed how Jung In was brutally abused over the months.

The late jung in.

On 13 October 2020, Jang and Ahn were arrested by the police force from Yangcheon, Seoul.

Appearance in “One Average Family”

It all started when Jung’s adopted parents along with their four-year-old biological daughter and Jung In appeared on a reality show, One Average Family. They appeared on the show under the pretence of being a loving family with Jung In.

“We would like to say that not just celebrities but normal people like us can also adopt kids. It’s not something someone should be embarassed about, instead it should be celebrated.”

Police ignored Jung In’s cry for help, not once but THREE times

A worker at a daycare made the first report of suspected child abuse on May 2020 after they found unusual bruises on Jung In’s thighs. Unfortunately, the police found her parents not guilty as according to one teacher, “The police specifically said it cannot be child abuse unless there is a fracture or an open wound.”

“We asked the mother how she got the bruises on her thighs. She said her father gave her massages. But who massages a baby that hard, to the point where they get bruised?”

After the first police report, Jung did not show up at the daycare centre for quite some time. On June 2020, a second police report was filed against the parents by a neighbour who found Jung sleeping alone in a locked, unsupervised vehicle. However, the police somehow found the investigation in favour of the parents as well.

The couple then kept Jeong-in at home instead of sending her to daycare. From July to September, she only showed up at the centre six times. During the same period, the couple’s biological daughter had no absences. On September 2020, Jung In returned to the daycare centre looking drastically skinnier than she did in May. Reports even say that she lost two pounds.

The teachers immediately took Jung In to a hospital, where the doctor who saw Jung In filed the third police report. The doctor insisted on having the child separated from the parents because it HAD to be child abuse!

“The patient had history of filed child abuse reports. I knew it had to be. So when the police showed up, I told them with conviction that the child must be separated from her parents. I didn’t hear back, so I assumed that adequate steps had been taken. And then I found out she passed away…”

A day before her death, October 12 2020, Jung In’s daycare teacher recalled how she kept asking to be cuddled. The teacher also kept checking Jung’s body for any new wounds.  A CCTV footage captured the teacher finding Jung In’s abnormally extended abdomen. When she brought it up with Ahn, he simply brushed it off.

“She may have had a chance to live if she was brought in immediately. But she wasn’t.”

Professor Namkoong Ihn said that when Jung In was admitted for a cardiac arrest, they were able to regain her consciousness for a brief period of time. At that point, he managed to grab some CTs (computed tomography) and the results made his blood boil!

Jung In’s CT scans revealed that her entire abdomen had been filled with blood. When the organ ruptured, blood and infection filled up her abdomen thus causing it to rot. Jung In could have survived if she was brought in earlier but unfortunately, this wasn’t the case.

Her X-Rays revealed that while some fractures were old and healing, other fractures were relatively new.

“Jung In’s case is a blatant example of child abuse that could well be included in textbooks. It is almost impossible to see these types of fractures from children who are growing up under adequate adult supervision.”

But that’s not the worst part. Jung In’s adoptive parents not only abused the poor child, they even reportedly recorded over 800 videos of the parents torturing the baby physically and mentally.

Police officers in charge of the case received “penalties”

Yangcheon Police Station and the officers in charge became heavily criticised following the airing of the episode for their failure to protect the helpless child. The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency soon released a statement claiming that 11 officers who had been involved in handling Jung In’s reports have “all received penalties for their irresponsible actions”.

Koreans grew furious after they found out that the “penalties” were just warnings and demanded stricter actions to be taken against the officers.

Jung in’s adopted mother leaves the seoul southern district court after a detention warrant hearing on nov. 11, 2020.

Some are calling for murder charges as the maximum punishment for involuntary manslaughter by child abuse is 15 years in prison,  reported Korea Joong. A petition that was submitted to the Blue House bulletin board to upgrade the indictments has received over 230,000 signatures as of 20 December. The Blue House gives an official response to petitions that have more than 200,000 signatures.

As of now, the #JungInImSorry hashtag is still trending with netizens demanding justice while paying their tribute to the innocent Jung In whose life was tragically mishandled in the grasp of cruel individuals.  

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