[Anchor]
When it comes to theft cases involving developmentally disabled individuals with low intellectual capacity, the situation is usually resolved during the investigation stage without going to trial. However, according to our reporting, a developmentally disabled person was put on trial simply for eating a snack worth 2,500 won, and was finally acquitted a year and a half later.
Reporter Kwon Min-kyu has the details.
[Reporter]
An unmanned store in Yangcheon-gu, Seoul, in mid-March of last year.
A man wearing a hat fiddles with some snacks, tears open the wrapper, and puts them into his mouth.
This is the scene where 38-year-old Kim Young-sik, who has a severe developmental disability, ended up being accused of theft.
The items Kim ate without paying over three instances were two chocolate bars and one Choco Pie, totaling 2,500 won worth of snacks.
At the time, a warning sign posted inside the store read, "In principle, we do not settle cases of theft."
[Kim Duk-jun / Kim Young-sik's father: I never imagined he would steal and eat something somewhere. (The store owner) said, 'Then I won't settle.']
Although the police confirmed that Kim was a severely disabled person with a remarkably low intellectual level, they forwarded the case on theft charges because the two sides failed to reach a settlement. The prosecution also summary-indicted him with a 100,000-won fine instead of granting a suspension of indictment.
Once the decision leaning toward a guilty verdict was handed down, Kim's family requested a formal trial.
[Kim Duk-jun / Kim Young-sik's father: How can you punish them? (Disabled individuals) are a matter of care and accommodation, not punishment. That is why we appealed (the summary order).]
On September 9, handed down a year and a half later, the first-instance court's ruling was not guilty.
The court judged that the crime was not established because Kim, whose intellectual age is that of a 4- to 5-year-old toddler, lacked the capacity to make a decision that he needed to pay for the items.
Experts criticized that the investigative authorities' practices of completely disregarding the behavioral characteristics of developmentally disabled individuals must change.
[Kim Min-young / Head of Gyeonggi Center for Persons with Developmental Disabilities: Seeking sentencing for these individuals holds little meaning. The primary goal is to prevent reoffending. Through systems such as separate, individual education so that they can recognize their actions...]
The prosecution gave up its right to appeal right after the first-instance ruling, finalizing the acquittal.
Meanwhile, they only offered a conventional statement to SBS saying they would make every effort in handling cases involving people with disabilities.
(Photo courtesy of Lim Woo-shik and Joo Yong-jin | Video by Jeon Min-gyu | Graphics by Kim Han-gil)
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