Caretaker Arrested in NY for Beating Korean Student

A Korean-American man has been arrested on the charge of assault and battery of a Korean teen student in New York, the Korean Consulate in New York said yesterday.

The 47-year-old man had cared for young Koreans studying in the U.S.

Some 20 Korean students under his care were sent to a facility run by New York authorities in the wake of his arrest. Many of them, however, returned to Korea.

The consulate said Nassau County police arrested the suspect, identified by his last name Cho, after getting a tip from the school that the 15-year-old assaulted student was attending. A teacher at the school claimed to have found scars on the student’s body.

A police source said, “Cho hit the student several times while they exchanged words and the student suffered bruises and abrasions.”

After the arrest, the county sent students under Cho’s guardianship to a public facility to protect them.

A consulate official said, “Upon hearing of the students being sent to the government facility, staff at overseas educational institutes and parents of several of the students came to the facility and took 11 students to Korea,” adding, “I understand that the remaining students will return home.”

Cho had taken care of some 20 Korean children attending public schools in New York in a remodeled home after registering as their legal guardian with the schools.

The consulate said, “Problems can arise because Cho failed to register his guardianship with a court,” adding, “If someone registers with a court as a guardian for minors, he or she cannot receive money for taking care of them.”

The students had lived in Cho’s house from January after paying him 50,000 dollars each. He had given them meals and transportation.

higgledy@donga.com