ID :
210958
Tue, 10/04/2011 - 06:18
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/210958
The shortlink copeid
Indictment rate down despite rising underage sexual abuse cases
SEOUL (Yonhap) - The rate of indictments on those suspected of sexual crimes against children plunged in the past five years despite an increase in such cases, a report said Tuesday, leading to a call for sterner action.
A total of 4,656 people were investigated on suspicion of child molesting last year, almost double the 2005 number of 2,314, according to a Justice Ministry report submitted to Grand National Party Lawmaker Jeong Kab-yoon during a parliamentary audit.
Of those suspects, only 47 percent were indicted for the crime, a 10-percentage point drop from 2005 when 57 percent of child molesting suspects were prosecuted, according to the report.
The rate further decreased during the first half of 2011 year to 42 percent, the report showed. The number of suspected child molesting cases during that six-month period was 2,039.
The indictment rate on sex crimes against children under the age of 13 dropped to 50 percent for the first half of 2011 from 66 percent in 2005. The figure for adolescents aged between 13 and 19 fell from 52 percent to 41 percent during the cited period, the report also showed.
The report came as the ministry faces increasing public calls to beef up punishment for those charged with sexual abuses against young people as a local box-office hit "Dogani," or "The Crucible" in English, drew public attention to lax regulation of sexual crimes against children and the disabled.
The movie depicted a true sexual abuse case at a special education institution in 2005, in which eight young deaf students were molested by five school officials and teachers.
"In the aftermath of the hit movie, (the ministry) has come under a rising call to ramp up penalties for sex crimes against adolescents and children," Jeong said. "The nosediving rate of indictments, in the current environment, is problematic."
A total of 4,656 people were investigated on suspicion of child molesting last year, almost double the 2005 number of 2,314, according to a Justice Ministry report submitted to Grand National Party Lawmaker Jeong Kab-yoon during a parliamentary audit.
Of those suspects, only 47 percent were indicted for the crime, a 10-percentage point drop from 2005 when 57 percent of child molesting suspects were prosecuted, according to the report.
The rate further decreased during the first half of 2011 year to 42 percent, the report showed. The number of suspected child molesting cases during that six-month period was 2,039.
The indictment rate on sex crimes against children under the age of 13 dropped to 50 percent for the first half of 2011 from 66 percent in 2005. The figure for adolescents aged between 13 and 19 fell from 52 percent to 41 percent during the cited period, the report also showed.
The report came as the ministry faces increasing public calls to beef up punishment for those charged with sexual abuses against young people as a local box-office hit "Dogani," or "The Crucible" in English, drew public attention to lax regulation of sexual crimes against children and the disabled.
The movie depicted a true sexual abuse case at a special education institution in 2005, in which eight young deaf students were molested by five school officials and teachers.
"In the aftermath of the hit movie, (the ministry) has come under a rising call to ramp up penalties for sex crimes against adolescents and children," Jeong said. "The nosediving rate of indictments, in the current environment, is problematic."
