18-year prison sentence for nanny who abused child to death

On May 30, the People's Court of Ho Chi Minh City held the first instance trial of the case of a nanny using her foot to break the heart of an 18-month-old child, causing public panic.

Nanny Ho Ngoc Nho at the trial.

After deliberation, the Trial Panel sentenced defendant Ho Ngoc Nho (born in 1995, residing in Ho Chi Minh City) to 18 years in prison for “Murder.” In addition, the court also ordered Ho Ngoc Nho to compensate the victim’s family for damages and mental loss of 100 million VND.

According to the indictment of the People's Procuracy of Ho Chi Minh City, in July 2013, Ms. Vo Thi Huyen, residing in Linh Trung ward, Thu Duc district, sent her child, Do Nhat Long (born March 22, 2012), to Ho Ngoc Nho to look after for 1.5 million VND/month.

Every day, around 7 o'clock, Ms. Huyen takes Long to Nho's rented house at room number 5, house number 9/45, group 9, quarter 6, Linh Trung ward, Thu Duc district and picks up Long at the end of the day.

As usual, at 7am on November 16, 2013, Ms. Huyen brought Long to Nho to take care of. About 5 minutes after Nho fed him, Long sat and played for a while and then cried. Nho told Long, “Stop crying, if you keep crying, I will beat you,” but Long continued to cry.

Seeing that, Nho grabbed Long's legs and arms, lifted him 90cm off the ground and said, "I'm going to throw him away now, he won't listen to anything." As soon as he finished speaking, Nho slipped, causing Long to fall to the ground, lying on his back on the floor and crying loudly.

Not only did Ho Ngoc Nho not pick Long up, he also kicked Long hard in the chest and stomach, then closed the door and went to the bathroom, leaving Long crying loudly. About 20 minutes later, Nho returned to the room and saw Long lying motionless. He immediately performed CPR and called people around to take him to the hospital, but Long died before being admitted.

According to the forensic conclusion, Long died of multiple injuries including hemothorax, lung contusion, liver rupture, heart rupture, abdominal hematoma, etc. The forensic conclusion dated December 2, 2013, cited in the indictment, determined that Ho Ngoc Nho was between 20 and 23 years old. However, the Trial Panel based on the birth certificate, established by a State agency and protected by law, determined that Ho Ngoc Nho was born in 1995 (underage when he committed the crime).

At the trial, Ho Ngoc Ngo admitted to the crime as stated in the indictment, apologized to Long's family, and agreed to compensate for damages and mental loss to Huyen and her husband.

The representative of the People's Procuracy participating in the trial and the Trial Panel jointly stated: Ho Ngoc Nho's criminal behavior trampled on social moral values, the criminal behavior was cruel and brutal, causing public outrage, not only disregarding the law and human life but also showing a lack of love even though Nho also had a young child (born in 2011).

When Long’s tragic death occurred, Ho Ngoc Nho’s family did not visit or encourage Huyen and her husband. This attitude was strongly criticized by the presiding judge. The presiding judge also criticized the irresponsible attitude of the defendant Nho’s mother when she answered that she did not know who made her child’s birth certificate, that her child was definitely born in 1995 or not…

The representative of the People’s Procuracy participating in the trial said that in recent times in Ho Chi Minh City, especially Thu Duc District, there have been many cases of child abuse that have caused public outrage. Defendant Ho Ngoc Nho did not attend preschool education classes, did not ask for permission to open a childcare center… but still took care of three children for a month in his rented room.

Receiving childcare money, in addition to benefits, Ho Ngoc Nho had to take responsibility for the safety of the child. However, just because of lack of love, to satisfy his anger, Nho kicked Long in the chest and stomach, causing his heart to rupture, causing the victim to die.

According to Vietnam+