Busan High Court hands down harsher sentences to juvenile offenders who raped and filmed a classmate

A still from the Netflix series "Teach You a Lesson" [Netflix]
A still from the Netflix series "Teach You a Lesson" [Netflix]

A juvenile sentencing hearing in which a judge invoked the Netflix drama series "Teach You a Lesson" has drawn widespread attention.

The case was an appeal heard June 24 at Courtroom 301 of Busan High Court, involving five juvenile defendants charged with violating the Act on the Protection of Children and Youth Against Sexual Abuse, among other charges.

The courtroom fell silent as Park Un-sam, presiding judge of the court's Second Criminal Division, read out the reasoning behind the ruling.

The defendants were charged with repeatedly raping a female classmate and filming and possessing sexual exploitation material, among other offenses.

In the first trial, three defendants received prison sentences and two received suspended sentences. A sixth juvenile tried alongside them did not appeal, and his original sentence was finalized.

The appeals court rejected arguments by defendants A and B that the facts had been misapplied and that their sentences were excessive. It accepted the prosecution's appeal that the first-instance sentences for A and B were too lenient, and increased them.

"Considering all circumstances — including phone calls and text messages between the victim and her acquaintances, recorded conversations between the defendants and the victim, audio recorded at the time of the incidents, and the victim's own testimony — there is no obstacle whatsoever to finding the defendants guilty," Park said. "And yet, even before this court, the defendants continue to offer explanations that are difficult to accept."

Defendant A, who received a sentence of four years maximum and three years minimum in the first trial, was sentenced on appeal to five years maximum and four years minimum.

Defendant B, who received two years maximum and one year and six months minimum in the first trial, was sentenced on appeal to three years maximum and two years minimum. The original sentences for the remaining three juvenile defendants were upheld.

Park sharply rebuked the defendants as he described the victim's situation.

"After the incident, the victim transferred schools, but rumors spread and she ultimately dropped out. She continues to receive psychiatric treatment to this day and has not been able to return to a normal life," Park said. "The defendants inflicted suffering on the victim that will be difficult to recover from, and they cannot escape responsibility for that — even if they are young boys."

He said the drama series "Teach You a Lesson" had been popular lately, and added that the case brought it to mind.

"The victim did nothing wrong," Park said. "If the victim suffered school violence, it should be the perpetrators who are transferred — not the victim. Why did the victim have to try to stay in the good graces of her attackers just to escape that situation?" He expressed deep frustration at the circumstances.

Park also said that once A and B had served their sentences, they would have far greater prospects of reintegrating into society than the victim.

Park said there were limits to how much the sentences could be increased given that the defendants were juveniles.


sun@heraldcorp.com