◀ Anchor ▶
Yesterday, we reported the suspicion that the director’s family frequently used violence against children and adolescents at a ‘children’s group home’ in Bucheon, Gyeonggi-do, and forced them to be hospitalized.
Another student who stayed in this facility and left for another area at the director’s coercion was confirmed to have committed suicide while touring various facilities.
A young student was not accepted anywhere because he had reported abuse in the past.
Reporter Yoo Seo-young will tell you.
◀ Report ▶
In August of last year, a 20-year-old freshman was found dead in a flower bed at a university in Gwangju.
He was a so-called “end-of-protection child,” who wandered around a child protection facility for 10 years and then came out of an orphanage as an adult.
With no home to return to even during the vacation and financial difficulties, he made the extreme choice of staying in the dormitory.
He, too, once stayed in a group home in Bucheon, Gyeonggi-do, where he was handed over to the prosecution for abusing five minors.
[피해 학생 A]
″With a slap on the back of “Go away Satan” and so on. With a hand, a fly swatter, or a hammer (wooden massage stick) or something…”
Until he died, he went to several shelters in Bucheon, and then to an orphanage in Gwangju, hundreds of kilometers away.
[피해 학생 A]
″Living itself was difficult, and then it became difficult because of the director…… He said it was very difficult when he went to Gwangju, where he had no connections…”
Why did I have to travel to many places?
In the past, a nursery school in Bucheon reported abuse damage, and the group home friends explained that it was ‘because of the ugly hair’ in the community.
[신인성/고아권익연대 사무국장]
″The part where the director is reported is a very vigilant part of the facility. “I made a report” “I put in a complaint” If rumors like that go around, this guy won’t accept it at any facility.″
The fact that there is no home to return to if they report and are kicked out was a fear for the children in the group home.
[피해 학생 B]
″In the first place, my parents sent me here because I couldn’t raise them, but if I report it, rumors about the report will spread, so I can move to another facility (he said.)″
The director of the group home even received a memorandum stating that he would not slander the group home and the director in order to prevent the children from reporting, or that he would be hospitalized in a mental hospital if he behaved in a problem.
It is said that nothing has changed even if they mustered up the courage to inform the child protection agency of the damage.
[피해 학생 A]
″Children’s agents came out and said, “We will consult one by one.” The director beat me, beat me with a fly swatter, locked me in a room, and talked about everything, but it was no use.”
The city of Bucheon, which has jurisdiction, said that no problems were found during its own investigation, but that it stopped operating the group home after a report was received to the police.
This is Yoo Seo-young from MBC News.
Video coverage: Lee Ji-ho, Yun Byung-soon / Video editing: Jang Ye-eun
