[Anchor]
The government certifies certain safe workplaces and grants tax benefits for people with disabilities who face employment challenges. However, police have launched an investigation following a report that a female employee with an intellectual disability at one such company was sexually assaulted by a senior executive in his 60s, resulting in pregnancy and childbirth.
Reporter Je Hui-won brings this exclusive report.
[Reporter]
Two years ago, 29-year-old Kim, who has a level 2 intellectual disability, was employed at a laundry company in Incheon.
It was a job arranged by the Korea Employment Agency for Persons with Disabilities, which certified the firm as a "standard workplace for people with disabilities."
However, in March of this year, Kim's father, intending to buy spring clothes for his daughter, noticed her unusually distended abdomen and took her to the hospital, where he only then learned of the pregnancy.
Kim, who was near full term, gave birth via cesarean section in late April. Her social age, given her level 2 severe intellectual disability, was equivalent to that of a 7-year-old, with her ability to express likes and dislikes functioning at about a 4-year-old level.
Upon receiving a report of sexual violence, police launched an investigation and confirmed that the child's DNA matched that of a 60-year-old executive surnamed Lee at the laundry company where Kim works.
[Victim's Father: I started inquiring by taking the child around. I thought it might be someone close... Even now, thinking about June 9 (the day the suspect was identified) makes me shudder with anger.]
It was revealed that Lee sexually assaulted the victim again early last month, just over a month after she gave birth and right before he was identified as the perpetrator.
[Victim's Father (Call recording provided by the victim): How could you take our child away and do that even after she gave birth?]
[Suspect Lee: I am not denying it. I admit to all of it.]
Circumstances were also uncovered indicating that late last year, Lee attempted to destroy evidence by taking Kim to an obstetrician-gynecologist in an attempt to induce an abortion, and by replacing Kim's cell phone with his used phone.
Lee is known to have admitted to dozens of instances of sexual relations while denying the charges on the grounds that the relations were consensual.
Kim's father, who had been living alone with his daughter, quit his job earlier this month and is now caring for the newborn.
[Kim Hwan-seop / Victim's Attorney: Just seeing how she manages her daily life is a point of extreme anger. It appears that he is avoiding even taking minimal moral responsibility, making a prompt coercive investigation necessary.]
The police plan to apply for an arrest warrant for Lee soon on charges of violating the Special Act on the Punishment of Sexual Violence Crimes.
(Video Editing: Choi Hye-ran, Design: Cho Su-in, Han Song-yeon, VJ: No Jae-min)
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