Court Orders Perpetrator to Reimburse Government for Victim Compensation After Teen's Death

The government has won a damages lawsuit filed against a perpetrator who sexually assaulted a teenager, leading to her death, after the state provided compensation to the victim's bereaved family.

The Busan District Court, presided over by Judge Lee Young-gap of the 11th Civil Division, announced today (July 1) that it ruled in favor of the plaintiff, the Republic of Korea, ordering the defendant, identified as A, to pay 37,696,320 won along with delay damages.

The state had filed the lawsuit to recover the funds it paid to the victim's family as survivor compensation.

According to the court ruling, A contacted the victim on March 30, 2023, after seeing her resume on the online job portal Alba Cheonguk, and told her to come for a part-time job interview.

They met for the first time on April 1, and A committed the sexual assault when they met again on April 10.

After contracting a sexually transmitted disease due to the crime, the victim suffered from severe distress and took her own life in May of that year.

It was revealed that A had committed crimes against several other victims as well. He was sentenced to seven years in prison in the first trial and five years in the appellate trial, with the sentence later finalized by the Supreme Court.

The victim's parents applied for survivor compensation under the Crime Victim Protection Act, but the Busan District Prosecutors Office's Crime Victim Compensation Deliberation Committee initially rejected the application.

Following an appeal by the parents, the Ministry of Justice's Crime Victim Compensation Deliberation Committee decided to pay 37,696,320 won in compensation while also deciding to exercise the right of indemnity to recover the full amount from the perpetrator.

Accordingly, the state paid the compensation to the victim's parents in October 2024 and subsequently filed the lawsuit against A.

During the trial, A argued that there was no causal link between his crime and the victim's death, but the court rejected this claim.

Judge Lee stated, "The victim contracted a sexually transmitted disease due to the defendant's sexual crime and became despondent over it," adding, "A causal relationship is recognized between the defendant's crime and the victim's death."
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.