Activists at the Gimpo Night School for the Disabled hold a rally calling for the protection of Saekdongwon victims in November 2025. (Gimpo Night School for the Disabled)
Activists at the Gimpo Night School for the Disabled hold a rally calling for the protection of Saekdongwon victims in November 2025. (Gimpo Night School for the Disabled)

A former head of a residential facility for people with severe disabilities was sentenced to 15 years in prison Wednesday for sexually assaulting three residents over more than a decade and physically abusing residents.

The Seoul Central District Court found the man, surnamed Kim, guilty of nearly all charges stemming from offenses committed at Saekdongwon in Ganghwa, Incheon, between 2012 and 2025.

The court also barred Kim from working at facilities serving people with disabilities, children or young people for 10 years and placed him on probation for three years following his release.

Kim’s attorneys had denied all three sexual assault allegations, but the court rejected their arguments.

The court acquitted him of one count of raping a resident under his care. It found that although the conduct constituted sexual violence prohibited under the Welfare of Persons with Disabilities Act, prosecutors had not established the violence or intimidation legally required for rape.

“There is no doubt that the act constituted sexual violence that caused sexual humiliation to a person with disabilities and therefore amounted to a violation of the Welfare of Persons with Disabilities Act,” the court said.

“For rape to be established, however, there must have been violence or intimidation sufficient to render the victim incapable of resisting, and it cannot be found that such violence or intimidation occurred.”

Saekdongwon, a residential facility for people with severe disabilities in Incheon (Screenshot from Saekdongwon homepage)
Saekdongwon, a residential facility for people with severe disabilities in Incheon (Screenshot from Saekdongwon homepage)

Kim was arrested Feb. 20 and later indicted. Prosecutors had sought a 20-year prison sentence.

He was also charged with injuring a resident by throwing a glass cup at the person’s head and striking another resident with a drumstick.

“The Saekdongwon case is not simply a case of sexual crimes committed by an individual, but one in which abuse was concealed organizationally and structurally,” said Ko Eun-young, an attorney at Barun Law who represented the victims.

“We hope today’s ruling offers at least some comfort to the victims and their families and serves as a meaningful foundation for making the country’s residential facilities for people with disabilities more transparent and safer.”


seungku99@heraldcorp.com