South Korean prosecutors on Monday asked the court to sentence Cho Doo-soon to one year in prison, after the convicted child rapist broke his curfew and stepped outside of his home after dark late last year.

The prosecution said Cho violated a legal order not to leave his home after 9 p.m., and left his residence in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province at around 9:05 p.m. on Dec. 4, where he allegedly wandered around the adjacently stationed police post. Officials also said Cho denied a police order to return home immediately, in a court hearing at the Ansan branch of the Suwon District Court.

Cho, 71, was released from prison in December 2020 after serving 12 years in prison for the rape of a then 8-year-old girl in 2008. In addition to a nighttime curfew, Cho has been ordered to wear an electronic tracking anklet for seven years and have his personal information accessible to the general public for five years, through the state-run sex offender information service (www.sexoffender.go.kr).

Cho told the court in the hearing that he inadvertently left home because he got angry after a fight with his wife that day. He pleaded for leniency, saying that he does not have money to pay the fine.

The court will reach a verdict on March 20.