The Jeju District Court sentenced a 39-year-old mother to a year in prison, suspended for two years, for child abuse.

The accused was charged with violating the Child Welfare Act last October when she forcibly shoved a notebook in her 11-year-old daughter’s mouth.

She is also reported to have acted aggressively when a consultant from a child protection institution made a home visit to talk with her daughter, and tried to interrupt the counseling process, according to one of the testimonies submitted to the court.

The woman faces another charge of going against an interim restraining order placed in April, which prohibited her from coming close to the child.

She claimed that her actions were a necessary and appropriate method of parenting to punish the wrongdoings of her daughter, whom she alleged stayed out late and did not do her homework well.

In its sentencing the court took into consideration that she had suffered severe depression as a single mother.

By Lee Sae-byul (nstelle@heraldcorp.com)