Cheonan Disabled Sports Association Employee Receives Suspended Sentence for Molesting Colleague

Court: "Despite the victim's mental suffering, no recovery has been made"

A team leader-level employee at the Cheonan City Disabled Sports Association in Chungnam received a suspended prison sentence for sexually assaulting a fellow employee.

On the 1st, Judge Jeong Eunyeong of the Cheonan Branch of the Daejeon District Court (Criminal Division 1) sentenced employee A of the Cheonan City Disabled Sports Association, who was indicted on charges including sexual assault, to six months in prison, suspended for two years. The court also ordered a three-year employment restriction at institutions related to people with disabilities and children/youth, and mandated 40 hours of sexual violence treatment lectures.

A was indicted for hugging a new employee, B (in their 20s), with both arms in front of the bench after the Cheonan City sitting volleyball team won the Chungnam Disabled Sports Competition in June 2019.

In addition to the sexual assault, it was revealed during the trial that the employee in question had repeatedly made derogatory remarks about people with disabilities in the workplace. However, the court ruled that this did not warrant criminal punishment and found A not guilty on that charge.

The court stated, "Although the victim suffered significant mental distress from this incident and no restitution has been made, we considered that the degree of assault was not severe and that the defendant had no prior criminal record" as reasons for sentencing.