[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] The prosecution has submitted a petition to the court requesting the implementation of so-called "chemical castration," a drug treatment to suppress sexual impulses, for Kim Geun-sik, who was re-arrested on charges of forcibly molesting a child 16 years ago.
According to the legal community on the 5th, the Criminal Division 1 of the Anyang Branch of Suwon District Court (Chief Judge Kim Jun-young) announced at the second trial on the 3rd regarding Kim Geun-sik's case involving violations of the Sexual Violence Prevention Act (rape of a minor under 13 years old) and other charges, "Yesterday, the prosecution submitted a petition for sexual impulse drug treatment (for the defendant)."
The court added, "The results of the sexual impulse drug treatment evaluation requested by the prosecution have arrived, and it was concluded that drug treatment is necessary for the defendant." The prosecution also submitted a psychiatric evaluation report as additional evidence to the court.
After explaining the newly added list of evidence, the court ended the trial in about five minutes. The next trial is scheduled for the 3rd of next month. It is expected that the court will decide whether to proceed with chemical castration for Kim Geun-sik after reviewing the materials submitted by the prosecution at the sentencing.
Earlier, at the first trial held in December last year, the prosecution argued for the necessity of attaching an electronic tracking device and probation for Kim Geun-sik, citing "the defendant's habitual sexual crimes, methods of offense, and past record, which indicate a high risk of committing similar crimes again," and also applied for a sexual impulse drug treatment evaluation.
Kim Geun-sik is accused of forcibly molesting a child victim A, who was under 13 years old at the time, by beating and threatening her with a weapon near a mountain behind an elementary school in Gyeonggi Province on September 18, 2006. The fact that Kim Geun-sik was the perpetrator of this case, which remained unsolved for 16 years, was revealed when the prosecution conducted a comprehensive investigation of unsolved sex crime cases stored at seven police stations in the Gyeonggi and Incheon areas ahead of Kim Geun-sik's release.
The prosecution received from the Supreme Prosecutors' Office the forensic results confirming that the DNA of the unknown perpetrator in the 2006 child molestation unsolved case matched Kim Geun-sik's, and based on this, referred Kim Geun-sik to the court in November last year.
Previously, Kim Geun-sik was sentenced to 15 years in prison for raping 11 minors in the Seoul metropolitan area from May to September 2006 and was scheduled to be released on October 17 last year. However, he was re-arrested one day before his full release due to the newly revealed charge of forcibly molesting a child in the Incheon area 16 years ago.
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