[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Kim Seul-gi] A man in his 20s who took in a runaway middle school girl and lived with her in a one-room apartment without notifying the police was sentenced to prison.
On the 20th, the Incheon District Court Criminal Division 8 (Presiding Judge Shim Hyun-joo) announced that A (22), who was indicted for violating the Act on the Protection and Support of Missing Children, was sentenced to 6 months in prison with a 2-year probation and ordered to perform 80 hours of community service.
The court stated, "The defendant rented a one-room apartment to live with the victim and cohabited with her for over a week until he was arrested in flagrante delicto. He actively concealed the whereabouts of the victim, who was only a middle school student. The defendant had also been fined last year for the same crime, so the culpability is not light. However, considering the defendant’s young age and his confession to the crime, the sentence was determined accordingly."
A was charged with taking B (14), a middle school student he met at a PC bang in Goyang-si, Gyeonggi-do on July 6 last year, to a one-room apartment in Michuhol-gu, Incheon the next day and failing to report her to the police.
Although A knew that B had run away from home, he lied twice to police officers who contacted him looking for her, claiming he did not know her whereabouts.
According to the Act on the Protection and Support of Missing Children, one must not fail to report and protect a missing child to the police without justifiable reason.
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