Pastor Detains and Assaults Disabled Person... "If Police Had Paid Just a Little More Attention"

Missing Person Report Filed with Police 1 Year and 4 Months Ago
Happiness Center Dismisses Claim, Saying "Pastor Would Never Do Such a Thing"

It has been found that the Administrative Welfare Center and the police took no action despite receiving reports that a church pastor had confined and assaulted an intellectually disabled person, thereby exacerbating the victim's suffering.

According to Yonhap News on the 31st, a pastor of a church in Cheongju was arrested on the 23rd on charges of confining and assaulting Mr. A (in his 50s), who has a severe intellectual disability, with a metal pipe since July 2021, as well as embezzling tens of millions of won from his basic living allowance.

Appearance at the time of escape in September 2022. [Photo by Yonhap News]

Mr. A filed a complaint with the police in January with the help of a disability organization, and as the investigation began, the full extent of the abuse and exploitation was revealed.

One year and four months prior to this, Mr. A escaped the church with the help of an acquaintance and reported the pastor’s crimes to a nearby Administrative Welfare Center. However, the center staff reportedly dismissed the case, saying, "There is no way a pastor would do such a thing. You should report it to the police," and sent them away without taking any further action.

The police also initially became aware of the case through a report filed by the pastor, who claimed that Mr. A said he would "just have lunch and come back," but when he did not return, the pastor filed a missing person report.

An acquaintance of Mr. A stated, "At the time, I told the police that 'A is hospitalized after being confined and assaulted by the pastor. The pastor must never know A’s whereabouts,' but there was no significant response," adding, "Nothing happened to the pastor afterward."

He added, "If the police had paid a little more attention and investigated how such an incident occurred, the pastor’s atrocities could have been exposed to the public much sooner."

If the acquaintance’s testimony is true, it is difficult to avoid criticism that the police failed to properly investigate despite being aware of circumstances involving a serious crime.

A police official said, "We confirmed that officers who responded at the time visited Mr. B’s house, but we do not recall what conversations took place afterward," and added, "The 112 emergency call records are only kept for one year, so we cannot verify further details."

The pastor had been serving at this church since 2014 and had brought in six disabled individuals to live and eat with him until last year. Among them, he is accused of confining and assaulting Mr. A and others for reasons such as difficulty controlling their bodily functions, and extorting tens of millions of won in basic living allowances.

The prosecution formally charged the pastor on the 19th with robbery, injury, and severe confinement causing injury, and he was detained.