The Korea Herald

피터빈트

Sex offender later became school teacher

By Yoon Min-sik

Published : May 24, 2023 - 15:43

    • Link copied

Gyeonggi Province’s Office of Education said Tuesday that a person accused of being convicted of the sexual assault of a vulnerable middle school student 13 years ago later worked as a teacher at an elementary school, confirming a recent online revelation that sparked public outrage.

The office said the person, however, is currently not working at the school. It refused to give more details, citing the protection of personal information.

An anonymous claim was made last Saturday on an online community, Bobae Dream, that one of the 16 perpetrators of the 2010 sexual attack on the underage girl has become a teacher at an elementary school in Gwanggyo, Gyeonggi Province, while another had become a fireman. "This is where (he or she) crossed the line," said the post’s writer, who claimed to be an acquaintance of the two.

The 2010 group rape case belatedly sparked public outcry in 2012, when the penalties the offenders received became known --- one year of supervision by a probation officer and 40 hours of reformative education. The reason for the leniency was because the offenders were minors at the time of the crime and they had no previous criminal record.