[Anchor]
The government certifies secure workplaces and provides tax benefits for individuals with disabilities who face employment difficulties. However, police have launched an investigation after receiving 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.
Reporter Je Hui-won has the details.
[Reporter]
Two years ago, 29-year-old Kim, who has a grade 2 intellectual disability, was employed at a laundry company in Incheon.
The job was arranged by the Korea Employment Agency for Persons with Disabilities, which certified the firm as a standard workplace for workers with disabilities.
However, in March of this year, Kim's father, intending to buy her spring clothes, noticed her unusually distended abdomen and took her to the hospital, where he learned of her pregnancy for the first time.
Kim, who was near full term, gave birth via cesarean section in late April. Her social age—corresponding to a severe grade 2 intellectual disability—was estimated at around the level of a 7-year-old, with her capacity to express likes and dislikes assessed at roughly the level of a 4-year-old.
Upon receiving a report of sexual violence, police launched an investigation and confirmed that the DNA of the newborn matches that of Lee, a company executive in his 60s at the laundry business where Kim works.
[Victim's Father: I started making inquiries with the child myself. I thought it could be someone close... Even now, thinking about June 9 (the day the perpetrator was identified), it makes my teeth chatter with anger.]
It was revealed that Lee sexually assaulted the victim again in early June, just over a month after she gave birth and immediately before he was identified as the suspect.
[Victim's Father (Phone recording provided by the victim): How could you take our child away and do that even after she gave birth?]
[Perpetrator Lee: I'm not denying it. I admit to all of it.]
Circumstances were also uncovered showing that Lee attempted to destroy evidence, such as taking Kim to an obstetrician and gynecologist late last year to try and force an abortion, and replacing Kim's mobile phone with his own used phone.
While Lee has reportedly admitted to having sexual relations dozens of times, he is known to be denying the charges under the premise that the relations were consensual.
Kim's father, who had been living alone with his daughter, quit his job earlier this month to take care of the newborn.
[Kim Hwan-seop, Attorney for the Victim: Just looking at how she manages her daily life is enough to make anyone furious. Since he seems to be evading even the minimum level of moral responsibility, swift coercive investigation appears necessary.]
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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