Parents Who Kept Son's Body in Freezer for 3 Years Sentenced to 30 and 20 Years

A couple who beat their 7-year-old son to death and kept his body in a freezer for three years have had prison sentences of 30 and 20 years finalized. In November 2012, a couple in their 30s was found to have damaged the corpse of their own son, Boy A, at a house in Simnok-dong, Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province.

The victim was Boy A (then 7), a first-grader. The crime dates back to late October of that year. Boy A, who weighed a mere 16 kilograms, lost consciousness after being assaulted by his father, Mr. B, in the bathroom of their home, and died days later without receiving medical treatment. Although he had shown signs of severe starvation and exhaustion even before his death, his parents never took him to a hospital.

Boy A's death went unknown to the world for more than three years. Having started school in March 2012, he stopped appearing at school after April 30 of that year. The turning point came in December 2015. After an 11-year-old girl who had been confined and abused in Incheon escaped and was rescued, the government launched a comprehensive survey of children with prolonged school absences. On January 13, 2016, when Boy A's elementary school contacted the parents to check on his whereabouts, the couple moved the frozen body into a bag and took it to an acquaintance's home. The school, finding their explanation dubious, reported the case to police, who launched an investigation and urgently arrested the couple on child abuse charges.

In the early stages of the investigation, Mr. B admitted to damaging the body but denied murder. He claimed his son had slipped in the bathroom, lost consciousness, and died after being left unattended for a month. However, suspicions grew because Boy A had already stopped attending school seven months before the date of death Mr. B claimed, and because the body had been concealed without a death report. After repeated questioning, Mr. B admitted that he had beaten his son to death while drunk. The mother, Ms. C, initially testified as if the crime had occurred while she was away at her parents' home, but the investigation confirmed that she had participated in damaging the body.

The appeals court upheld the lower court's sentences, and the Supreme Court rejected Mr. B's final appeal, finalizing his 30-year prison term. Ms. C did not appeal, cementing her 20-year sentence. The court rebuked the couple, saying they had damaged the body out of fear of punishment after their son died. In a separate ruling, the couple was also stripped of parental rights over their daughter.