The Supreme Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul. [Yonhap]
The Supreme Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul. [Yonhap]

A 10-year prison sentence has been finalized for an investigator at a disability rights agency convicted of sexually abusing teenage girls with intellectual disabilities.

The Supreme Court's First Division, presided over by Justice Seo Gyeong-hwan, last month upheld the lower court's sentence against the defendant, identified only as A, a man in his 50s, on charges including violations of the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment of Sexual Crimes — specifically the rape of a person with disabilities under protection.

A worked as an investigator at the Jeju Disability Rights Advocacy Center. Between July 2024 and February last year, he sexually abused three victims on multiple occasions — in a counseling room, a supply storage room and during home visits. The victims include two teenage girls with intellectual disabilities, one identified as B, and B's younger sister.

A also faces charges of raping B in the back seat of a work vehicle in February last year.

The trial court found A guilty on all charges and sentenced him to 10 years in prison. It also ordered him to complete 40 hours each of sexual violence and child abuse treatment programs and barred him from working at institutions involving children or youth for 10 years.

A denied some of the charges, but the trial court found no grounds to conclude that the victims had given false testimony and said additional circumstances supported the credibility of their statements.

"The defendant, as an employee of a facility for people with disabilities and in a position obligated to protect the victims, exploited their limited ability to protect or defend themselves to commit sexual violence," the trial court said. "His culpability is grave and severe punishment is inevitable."

A appealed, but both the appellate court and the Supreme Court found no error in the lower court's reasoning and dismissed his final appeal.


chami@heraldcorp.com