▲ Gwangmyeong, Gyeonggi Province - A teenager who attempted to kidnap an elementary school student
A high school student who attempted to abduct an elementary school student he did not know by dragging her into an apartment stairwell has received a heavier prison sentence in his appellate trial than in the first trial.
The 13th Criminal Division of the Suwon High Court (Presiding Judge Heo Yang-yun) overturned the lower court's ruling—which had sentenced the defendant, A, indicted for violations of the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment of Sexual Crimes, to 2 years and 4 months in maximum prison and 2 years in minimum prison—and instead sentenced him to 4 years in maximum prison and 2 years and 6 months in minimum prison yesterday (August 20).
In addition, the court ordered him to complete 80 hours of a sexual violence treatment program and imposed a 5-year employment restriction at institutions related to children, adolescents, and persons with disabilities.
Defendant A was brought to trial on charges of following a lower-grade elementary school student, B, and attempting to drag her away on September 8 of last year at around 4:20 PM in an apartment building in Gwangmyeong.
At the time, Defendant A fled the scene when B strongly resisted and screamed, but he was arrested by police on the same day after they tracked him using CCTV footage.
Investigations revealed that he committed the crime with the intent to commit a sexual offense.
During the trial, Defendant A's defense claimed a misunderstanding of facts and a misinterpretation of the law, arguing that "there was no intent to commit rape and no execution of the act had begun," but both the first and second-instance courts rejected these arguments.
While acknowledging as favorable factors that Defendant A has an intellectual disability and that the crime ended in an attempted offense, the appellate court deemed valid the prosecution's appeal that the first trial's sentence was too light considering the gravity of the case.
The court stated, "The nature of the crime is extremely poor given the content and methods, as he attempted to abduct and rape a young girl he did not know at all," adding, "The physical and psychological suffering experienced by the victimized child is immense, and the victim's side has refused to accept the defendant's deposited funds and is pleading for strict punishment."
In particular, the court pointed out that the first instance's calculation of the indeterminate sentence for a juvenile offender was inappropriate.
Under the Juvenile Act, early release (minimum term) and full-term release (maximum term) for minors are determined based on their behavior and attitude during imprisonment. The first instance's sentence (maximum 2 years and 4 months, minimum 2 years) had a gap of only 4 months, which the court noted made it difficult to incentivize sincere educational completion within a correctional facility.
The court added reasons for increasing the sentence, stating, "Although it was claimed that the family has made full preparations to prevent reoffending, the responsibility for rehabilitation cannot be unilaterally left to the parents," and "Thorough education in a specialized facility is necessary to prevent recidivism."
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