Supreme Court Confirms 5-Year Sentence for Kim Geun-sik for Child Molestation and Assault on Prison Guard

Female child sex offender Kim Geun-sik was sentenced to 5 years in prison for raping a minor and other charges.

The Supreme Court's 1st Division (Presiding Justice No Tae-ak) on the 8th upheld the original sentence of 5 years in prison in the final appeal of Kim, who was indicted for violating the Sexual Violence Punishment Act (rape causing injury) and other charges. For the sex crimes committed against minors, a 4-year prison sentence was confirmed, and for assaulting a correctional officer (obstruction of official duties) and repeatedly assaulting fellow inmates (habitual assault), a 1-year prison sentence was confirmed.

Kim is accused of assaulting and threatening a victim (then 8 years old) returning home after attending an academy in September 2006, and forcibly molesting her in a mountain near an elementary school in Gyeonggi Province.

Kim 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, 2022. However, he was re-arrested one day before his full release due to newly revealed charges of forcibly molesting a child in the Incheon area 16 years ago. However, after reviewing police reports filed by the victim's guardian at the time, it was confirmed that Kim was not the perpetrator in the child molestation case that led to his re-arrest.

Additionally, Kim is accused of assaulting a correctional officer in December 2019 and July 2021 at Haenam Prison in Jeollanam-do, as well as repeatedly assaulting fellow inmates from 2017 to 2019.

The first and second trials stated, "The defendant's criminal nature is bad and habitual, and the victim's recovery has not been achieved, making severe punishment inevitable," and sentenced him to 5 years in prison. The Supreme Court also agreed with the lower courts' judgment.