Suspended Prison Sentence for Man in His 20s Who Molested Three Children Next Door

Court: "Great Emotional Trauma for the Victim and Family"

A man in his 20s who repeatedly molested children living in his neighborhood has been sentenced to a suspended prison term.

According to the legal community on the 14th, the Cheonan Branch of the Daejeon District Court Criminal Division 1 (Presiding Judge Jeon Kyungho) sentenced A (21), who was tried on charges of violating the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment of Sexual Crimes (forcible molestation of minors under the age of 13), to three years in prison, suspended for five years.

Additionally, the court ordered three years of probation, 40 hours of sexual violence treatment lectures, five years of disclosure and notification of personal information, and a five-year employment restriction at institutions related to children, adolescents, and people with disabilities.

Between May and June of this year, A took three children living in a neighboring apartment in Asan, where he resides, to the stairs and forcibly molested them.

The court stated, "All the victims were only between seven and twelve years old, yet the defendant targeted them for sexual crimes. The mental shock and emotional trauma suffered by these young victims, who are at an age to form sexual identity and healthy sexual values, and their families, must be considerable," explaining the reasons for the sentencing.