Academy Instructor Who Committed Sexual Crimes Against Students Sentenced to 8 Years in First Trial

Employment Restrictions for Child, Adolescent, and Disabled-Related Institutions for 10 Years

An academy instructor who committed sexual crimes against middle school students was sentenced to a heavy prison term.

According to Yonhap News on the 2nd, "The Jeju District Court Criminal Division 2 (Presiding Judge Hong Eun-pyo) sentenced Mr. A, a man in his 30s who was detained and prosecuted on charges of violating the Act on the Protection of Children and Juveniles from Sexual Abuse (inducement and molestation), to 8 years in prison," adding, "He was also ordered to complete 120 hours of a sexual violence treatment program and was banned from employment at institutions related to children, adolescents, and persons with disabilities for 10 years."

Jeju District Court courtroom [Photo by Yonhap News]

Mr. A, who worked as an English academy instructor in the province, is accused of repeatedly raping and molesting his student Ms. B dozens of times between July and October last year, and producing sexually exploitative materials by filming Ms. B with his mobile phone. During the trial, Mr. A claimed that the acts were done out of mutual affection with Ms. B, but the court did not accept this argument.

The court stated, "The victim, who was in a very mentally unstable state, was isolated from family, friends, and school, while being coaxed and pressured by gaining her favor, eventually being conditioned to be unable to refuse sexual relations," and added, "This is recognized as a violation of her sexual self-determination rights." Furthermore, the court explained, "As an academy instructor, he should have protected the minor, but instead used his authority to coerce her when she refused sexual contact, satisfying his sadistic sexual desires," and "Considering the victim's plea for severe punishment, the sentence was determined."

According to the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family's '2022 Analysis of Trends and Occurrences of Sexual Crimes Against Children and Adolescents' released last month, females accounted for 91.5% of sexual crime victims among women and youth. The average age of victims decreased from 14.6 years in 2017 to 13.9 years in 2022. Among the victims, 25.4% were under 13 years old.

Regarding the types of perpetrators, acquaintances other than family and relatives accounted for 59.9%, more than half. This was followed by complete strangers at 29.4%, family and relatives at 7.6%, and unknown relationships at 3.1%.