11년째 매달 학부모에 편지…‘신뢰 쌓는 소통’ 범준쌤의 진심

An 11-year-old boy from Chungju, Chungnam province, has died after being confined to his bed for over 30 hours at his church amid allegations of child abuse. The church's pastor, a 62-year-old woman from Seoul, has been detained in connection with the case. According to prosecutors, the boy's mother, the pastor's wife, and grandmother, who lived nearby, had reported the child's abuse to authorities twice in August but were told to return the boy, who had gone missing, to the church.

The boy, who had lived with the church staff since birth, was reportedly locked in a bedroom for more than 38 hours before his death on August 5th. Paramedics found rope marks on the boy's wrists and ankles, indicating he had been tied down. The church, while not a formal daycare facility, had been the boy's primary home since he was born.

The boy's grandmother survived the incident, but the pastor and her mother were not present. The pastor had referred to himself as the boy's "mother." The boy's grandmother had received government child welfare benefits for the boy during his years of alleged abuse, even though she had not lived with him. Despite previous reports of neglect, the boy continued to live with his grandmother and the pastor, who were not legally recognized as his caregivers.