KORA school violence case that took place at a middle school 8 years ago has caused massive shock after coming to light through supplementary prosecution investigations.
The victim, now a 23-year-old woman, revealed that she was subjected to physical assault and even gang sexual assault by a group of perpetrators at the time.
[School Violence Victim: "I lived in constant anxiety. Even after moving, people would ask me, 'I got to know someone, and they said they have nude photos of you. How did you live to let something like that exist?'"]
The perpetrator was a notorious female who had been in and out of juvenile detention centers since her teens, and she ordered her friends to assault and sexually assault the victim.
[Acquaintance of the Perpetrator: "The only thing I saw was just one video, that single one. It was a video of sexual intercourse. Besides one guy and one girl having sex, there were a few others? One or two? Three? I could hear the female and the male kids giggling and laughing."]
When the victim courageously reported the case to the police in 2024 after becoming an adult, the response she received was cold.
[School Violence Victim: "When (the police) saw our attorney, they asked if we were friends. They just spoke informally, saying things like, 'Are you friends?' I heard they actually knew the perpetrator."]
[Park Ji-ae / Court-appointed defense counsel for the victim at the time: "They spoke in a way that clearly revealed a prejudice close to deciding not to forward the case, right in front of the victim. Sometimes investigators hold preconceptions, but they usually don't make it obvious to the victim while conducting an investigation. But that person was actually doing that right from the beginning."]
While the assault charges could not be punished due to the expiration of the statute of limitations, the police decided not to forward the special rape charge, which was the most severe harm, citing insufficient evidence.
However, the situation flipped when the prosecution, reviewing the victim's case records, suddenly ordered a reinvestigation.
[School Violence Victim: "When I went in for my first prosecution interview, they told me, 'This is not a case that should be buried like this.' Tears just started welling up inside me then, and I thought, 'Ah, there is someone who believes me.'"]
Following the prosecution's reinvestigation, one main culprit and three accomplices were sent to trial in August of last year on charges including special rape and child abuse. In July of this year, the main female culprit was sentenced to 8 years in prison, and the other perpetrators all received sentences of 4 years or more.
The team from SBS 'Unanswered Questions' tracked down the police investigation official from back then to ask about the investigation process, and they still poured out remarks that seemed to shield the perpetrator.
[Police investigation official at the time: "When we looked at the perpetrator over years of investigations, she was indeed someone who couldn't take the lead and do things on her own. On the other hand, she is pitiable. To put it simply, she was just someone who stood in the background to provide cover."]
Experts who reviewed the case point out that investigative agencies need responsible responses to ensure the victim's voice is not silenced.
[School Violence Victim: "Knowing that it could have ended up like this, how could the judgments be so different? It means this could have become a nonexistent case even though such heavy sentences are being handed down. It feels so devastatingly futile."]
Netizens who encountered the case expressed angry reactions, such as "The prosecution saved a case that was almost buried forever" and "It makes no sense that victim relief depends on the luck of the draw."
(Planned by: Yoon Sung-sik | Video editing: Kim Na-on | Screen source: 'Unanswered Questions' Episode 1500 | Produced by: SBS Digital News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.
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