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Ex-NSA chief pleads guilty to killing 3-year-old adopted S. Korean son

November 25, 2015
Madoc Hyunsu O'Callaghan, left, and Brian Patrick O'Callaghan (Screenshot/AP Photo)

Madoc Hyunsu O’Callaghan, left, and Brian Patrick O’Callaghan (Screenshot/AP Photo)

By Brian Han

A former National Security Agency (NSA) chief of the Korea division pleaded guilty after being charged with his 3-year-old son’s death.

Brian Patrick O’Callaghan admitted to abusing his adopted South Korean son Hyeonsu, which resulted in death after inflicting brain trauma and a fractured skull.

The 38-year-old from Damascus, Md. adopted the boy in October of 2013 with the incident occurring just months later in January of 2014.

O’Callaghan originally told doctors and police that his son had slipped in the bathtub and became unresponsive.

Following an investigation, the father could not provide a logical explanation for the severity of the injuries.

“This troubling case is coming to a resolution with Mr. O’Callaghan’s plea today,” said a representative of Maryland’s state attorney office Ramon Korionoff according to NBC News Washington. “He has taken responsibility for his actions in the shocking and unfathomable death of an innocent toddler. We look forward to a stiff sentence in April.”

O’Callaghan blamed part of the incident on an alleged mental illness for which he had been taking medication.

An obituary for the boy provided his full name as Madoc Hyeonsu O’Callaghan.

“[Hyeonsu] was a smiling, content, and loving son and brother,” it read. “He loved his dogs, his big brother Aidan, and anything his parents made for him to eat. He wasn’t dealt the simplest hand in life, but he found something to love in it every day.”