Donations Raised for Teacher Claiming 'Unfair Dismissal' Used to Pay Fine for Sexual Harassment

Two teachers who illegally collected donations and delivered them to a fellow teacher dismissed for sexually harassing a student have been referred to prosecutors.

Busan Dongnae Police Station announced today (October 17) that it has forwarded two male teachers in their 40s, identified as A and B, to prosecutors without detention on charges of violating the Act on the Collection and Use of Donations.

Working as elementary school teachers, the suspects are accused of posting messages in an online teacher community between March and May 2024 to help a dismissed teacher, C, without registering the fundraising campaign with the relevant authorities, thereby gathering approximately 30 million won.

The posts reportedly claimed that teacher C had to leave the classroom after being wrongfully reported for child abuse.

However, it was revealed that C was actually indicted not for child abuse, but for sexually harassing two elementary school students, and was finalized with a 30 million won fine, which the collected donations were used to pay.

Police investigations began after a current teacher discovered these facts belatedly and filed a complaint.

A police official explained, "We received the case in April of this year, conducted an investigation, and recently forwarded the two individuals."

(Photo: Provided by Yonhap News TV, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.