A man living with a 14-year-old mother faces an appeal on charges of neglecting a premature baby and causing its death.

(Chuncheon = Yonhap News) Reporter Park Young-seo = What the baby who came into the world in August 2022 brought was not ‘blessing’ but ‘anxiety’.

The baby was born without any medical assistance, not in a hospital, but in the bathroom of an apartment in Gangwon-do.

The biological mother was only 14 years old at the time. She gave birth to the baby she had with her ex-boyfriend alone, without even knowing the exact period of her pregnancy, as she never received medical treatment at a hospital during her pregnancy.

Although the baby was born prematurely, he never crossed the threshold of the hospital until his death.

Mr. A (27), who was in his early 20s at the time, and his biological mother, Ms. B, who was a minor, decided to raise the baby at Mr. A's house without even registering the birth.

This is because Ms. B was wanted for violating the Probation Act and was afraid of her identity being revealed.

Although the two raised a dog in the house, they lived with the baby in their own bed without taking sufficient hygiene measures.

The baby's health condition worsened, as he frequently fell under the bed while sleeping and his eyes swelled, but the couple did not take the baby to the hospital.

The baby, who was left without any medical treatment or professional care, eventually died at the end of October of the same year.

Even after the baby died, the two people's worry was that Ms. B's wanted information would be revealed.

Fearing that they would be arrested if they reported the death to the police, delivered the body to the hospital, or held a normal funeral, they would be discovered as wanted and decided to hide the baby's death.

The day after the baby died, Mr. A and Ms. B put the body in a box and buried it under the bridge in the early morning.

Mr. A, who was arrested for this matter, was sentenced to 1 year and 6 months in prison and 2 years of probation for abandoning a corpse. Ms. B, who was a minor, was sent to the juvenile department.

However, the legal responsibility of the two people surrounding the baby's death did not end there.

The investigative agency believed that the two were responsible for failing to provide necessary medical treatment and an appropriate child-rearing environment for a prematurely born baby, and brought them to court again in October last year on charges of child abuse and death under the Child Abuse Punishment Act and abandonment and neglect under the Child Welfare Act.

The first trial reprimanded Mr. A, saying, "Despite the fact that we had a duty to keep Ms. B's child healthy and safe, she tragically ended her life just two months after birth due to abandonment and neglect."

However, considering the fact that he had a duty to protect the child victim in the process of living with Miss B and the fact that he was not the biological father, he was sentenced to three years in prison, but the execution of the sentence was postponed for five years.

It was judged that it would be more desirable to guide and discipline Ms. B so that she could grow into a healthy member of society through careful protection and education that takes into account the boy's characteristics, rather than punishment through a general criminal trial, and was sent to the juvenile department.

As the prosecution, which had sought 8 years in prison in the first trial, appealed that the sentence was unfair because it was light, Mr. A stands before the court of law once again. The first trial for the appeal will be held on the 16th.