[Anchor]

We reported exclusively yesterday, July 1, that the father of Jang Yoon-gi, a suspect in the Gwangju high school girl murder case, destroyed key evidence related to his son's sex crimes. It has been additionally confirmed that the father, identified as Police Inspector Jang, worked at the very police station that was in charge of investigating his son until last year. Despite knowing that the suspect's father was a police officer during the initial investigation, the police did not conduct any inquiries or take any measures.

Here is the exclusive report by Kim su-yun.

[Reporter]

The Gwangju Gwangsan Police Station was responsible for the initial investigation into Jang Yoon-gi, who murdered the late Lee Chae-won last May.

The station conducted the primary investigation from the arrest of Jang Yoon-gi to his referral to the prosecution.

However, SBS has confirmed that Police Inspector Jang, the father who destroyed the life-sized dolls that served as key evidence in his son's sex crimes, was previously stationed at the Gwangsan Police Station, which handled the investigation into his son.

It was found that Inspector Jang had been working at a patrol division under the Gwangsan Police Station until March of last year.

Inspector Jang is currently working at a different patrol division in Gwangju, but he is reportedly on vacation and has applied for a leave of absence starting from the middle of this month.

[Police Official: He has not shown up since the incident. I heard that he is using his annual leave and then going on a leave of absence.]

After arresting Jang Yoon-gi on the morning of May 5, the Gwangsan Police Station received a statement during the interrogation that his father was a police officer.

Despite this, it is reported that the police, while aware that Jang Yoon-gi resided in Gwangju, did not conduct any further questioning or investigation beyond asking about his father's occupation.

Ultimately, Inspector Jang, who is known to have had investigative experience prior to his work at the patrol division, destroyed evidence including the life-sized dolls just three days after his son's crime and the day after his son was detained, yet the police were unaware of this fact.

Regarding this, an official from the Gwangsan Police Station told the SBS reporting team, "We conducted the investigation thoroughly, regardless of Inspector Jang," and added, "We did not see the necessity of seizing the life-sized dolls as physical evidence."

Reported by Jung Gyeong-mun | Video by Shin Se-eun | Graphics by Choi Jin-hoe | Produced by SBS Digital News