Nine people, including a nursery school teacher, who habitually abused disabled children more than 500 times, have been arrested by the police.

Yesterday (9th), the Gyeongnam Police Agency's Crime Investigation Team for Women and Youth applied for an arrest warrant for four people, including Ms. A, a nursery teacher in her 16s at a daycare center in Jinju, Gyeongnam, who is suspected of violating the Child Welfare Act.

According to police, they are accused of repeatedly beating or abusing children with disabilities at daycare centers because they are deaf or difficult to deal with.

The daycare center is a specialized childcare facility for children with disabilities, and all 20 students are autistic or developmentally disabled children, and 4 of them are victims.

More than 2 instances of abuse by nursery teachers were captured between June and August on CCTV recovered by police, and it was found that children were hit with their hands and kicked in the stomach several times a day.

In some cases, they pushed a child straddling a desk and knocked him down, took a picture of the crown of the child's head with his cell phone, and pressed a blanket over a child who was not taking a nap.

In addition, it was confirmed that CCTV footage showed that when the teacher who assaulted the teacher was away, another teacher assaulted him one after another, and that he did not dwell on the other teacher and committed abusive acts.

One teacher committed more than 5 cases of abuse alone.

This came to light when a parent reported suspected child abuse to the police after seeing the victim's nose skin red and bruised to the point of peeling off.

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During the police investigation, the perpetrators admitted to the allegations, while some claimed that their actions were a "physical urging" of teachers assisting with physical contact in order to discipline problematic behaviors in children with developmental disabilities.

However, after consulting with experts on four occasions, the police determined that the actions of the perpetrators could not be considered "physical prompting" and applied for arrest warrants for the four teachers, who were heavily involved in the number and severity of the abuse.

Currently, the affected children are receiving psychological treatment, but they are reportedly suffering from trauma, such as screaming in their sleep or vomiting when they go near daycare centers.

Once an arrest warrant is issued, the police will conclude their investigation and send the suspects to the prosecutor's office.

(Photo = Yonhap News TV capture, Yonhap News)