[Herald DB]
[Herald DB]

A man in his 50s who sexually assaulted a 10-year-old girl while wearing an electronic ankle monitor has been sentenced to prison again after an appeals court upheld his conviction.

The First Criminal Division of the Daejeon High Court's Cheongju bench, presided over by Chief Judge Kim Jin-seok, sentenced the man, identified only as A, to four years in prison — the same term handed down by the lower court — on charges of forcibly molesting a minor under 13 in violation of the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment of Sexual Crimes. A had been indicted and detained ahead of trial.

The court also ordered that his personal information be disclosed through information and communications networks for seven years, that he wear an electronic monitoring device for 10 years, and that he be barred from working at institutions serving children, adolescents and people with disabilities for seven years.

A is accused of groping the 10-year-old daughter of an acquaintance, identified as B, on two separate occasions in April and May 2024. He had invited B's family to his home for a meal and committed the offenses while B and his spouse briefly stepped away from the table. At the time, A was already wearing an ankle monitor, having been released in 2020 after serving a 10-year sentence for raping his own child between 2008 and 2010.

A denied the allegations at trial, but the court rejected his claims.

The lower court, in handing down the four-year sentence, said the defendant had molested a victim under 13 on two occasions, calling the nature of the crime serious. It added that the victim appeared to have suffered considerable physical and psychological trauma and that the defendant had not been forgiven by the victim.

A appealed, but the appeals court found the lower court's judgment lawful and affirmed the sentence.


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