Saekdongwon Director to Be Referred Soon... Police Identify 8 Additional Victims

Police Continue Full-Scale Investigation of All Residents and Staff

The police plan to refer the director of the Saekdongwon residential facility for people with severe disabilities in Ganghwa-gun, Incheon, and others who sexually assaulted residents with disabilities, to the prosecution. In particular, during the investigation they identified additional victims and have launched a preliminary inquiry prior to formal booking.

Mr. Kim, director of Saekdongwon, a residential facility for people with severe disabilities, who is accused of, under the pretext of providing life guidance, having forced sexual intercourse with female residents with disabilities or coercing them into similar sexual acts (charges include rape of a protected person under the Act on the Punishment of Sexual Crimes and assault under the Act on Welfare of Persons with Disabilities), is leaving the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul on the 19th after completing a detention hearing (pre-arrest suspect interrogation). Yonhap News

At a regular press briefing held on the 23rd at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency building in Jongno-gu, Seoul, Seoul Metropolitan Police Commissioner Park Jeongbo stated, "The investigation into the facility director, Mr. Kim, and two staff members has been completed, and we plan to refer the case (to the prosecution) within this week." The special investigation team of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency in charge of the Saekdongwon case has arrested Mr. Kim, the facility director, on charges including violations of the Act on the Punishment of Sexual Crimes and the Act on Welfare of Persons with Disabilities, and has been continuing the investigation without detention into two other staff members who were booked on charges of assault under the Act on Welfare of Persons with Disabilities.

So far, director Kim is suspected of assaulting or sexually assaulting at least six people, but the police are leaving open the possibility that additional victims may be identified in the course of future investigations.

In addition, while questioning former residents with disabilities who stayed at Saekdongwon, the police identified eight more people who are presumed to have suffered harm such as assault and unlawful confinement. Commissioner Park Jeongbo explained, "While conducting a full-scale investigation of the 87 residents who have been continuously admitted since the facility opened in 2008, additional victims were identified."

The police have secured the personal information of four staff members identified as perpetrators and have launched a preliminary inquiry to determine their connection to the crimes. These four staff members are separate individuals from the three people, including Mr. Kim, who had already been booked.

Since the facility opened, the police have identified 87 residents and 240 staff members who have passed through it. They had previously counted 152 staff members, but the number of staff subject to the full-scale investigation increased after adding those additionally confirmed by Ganghwa-gun authorities.