Court finds caregiver guilty of involuntary manslaughter in elderly patient's death
Published: 15 Oct. 2025, 10:33
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An image of a statue of Justitia, the goddess of justice [KOREA JOONGANG DAILY]
A caregiver in their 60s was sentenced to prison for leaving an elderly person with dementia in a water-filled bathtub, resulting in the person’s death.
The Daejeon District Court sentenced the caregiver, indicted on charges of involuntary manslaughter due to professional negligence, to eight months in prison. The sentence requires confinement but does not involve forced labor.
The caregiver was found to have left an 86-year-old with dementia in a bathtub filled with water at around 8:01 a.m. on March 11 last year, in a bathroom inside an apartment in Jung District, Daejeon. The person was left unattended for 44 minutes and drowned.
At the time, the deceased had difficulty moving due to dementia and other medical conditions, including tremors. The caregiver left the person in the bathtub, closed the bathroom door and went to eat in the kitchen without checking on the victim’s condition, according to the investigation.
In court, the defendant denied the charges, claiming the deceased had asked to be left alone during the bath. However, the court rejected this claim.
“Even if the victim made such a request, it is difficult to view this as reducing the duty of care, especially when the caregiver was responsible for protecting a person with mobility issues and dementia,” the judge said. “Care-related activities that carry risk must be conducted during times when the caregiver is able to provide full attention and supervision.”
The judge said a custodial sentence was unavoidable given the severity of the offense and the lack of forgiveness from the victim’s family.
However, the court did not order immediate detention, citing the caregiver’s ongoing efforts to seek forgiveness from the bereaved family, along with the caregiver’s age and health condition.
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY HYEON YE-SEUL [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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