[사설]천안 아동 사망, ‘구조신호’ 외면한 총체적 직무유기다

A tragic story unfolded in Chungnam's Chungju. An 11-year-old child was kidnapped and ultimately lost their life. The child had been sending out desperate pleas for rescue for several days, but none of the authorities – police, legal systems, or local government – intervened. The child had reported being abused by a grandmother four times between 2021 and the tragic event, yet no protective measures were taken.

The child had even escaped the church twice, informing passersby about their abuser. Despite this, authorities returned the child to the church twice. The police requested a temporary restraining order against the grandmother, but the court denied it. The day after the restraining order was denied, the child fell ill with fever and disoriented, leading to their untimely demise.

The police explained that they returned the child to the church because the grandmother lived elsewhere, and they deemed the church location safe. This decision is infuriating. The authorities should have examined whether the church was safe before returning the child. Additionally, the court's refusal to grant a restraining order was equally problematic, as child abuse temporary measures are preventive, not punitive.

The child had directly reported being beaten, yet protective measures were still denied. The child's previous abuse suspicions were also ignored, with three more reports filed in 2021, all of which pointed to the grandmother as the abuser. Despite multiple reports, the 'Jeongin case' in 2020, where three instances of suspected abuse were filed but the child was not rescued, did not prevent this tragedy.

The 'immediate separation program for abused child victims' introduced in 2020 was also ineffective. The program's failure to prevent such tragedies is due to minimizing dangerous signals and a lack of proactive approach to child protection. While the government's budget for child abuse protection has more than doubled from 267 billion won in 2020 to 587 billion won this year, the rate of repeated child abuse has increased from 10.3% in 2018 to 15.9% in 2024.

Simply increasing the budget is not enough; a comprehensive approach incorporating social capabilities is necessary for effective child protection.