Maximum jail term for child sex offenders to rise to 30 years

SEOUL, Nov. 25 (Yonhap) -- The Justice Ministry has drafted legal revisions to
raise the jail term to 30 years for perpetrators of violent crimes, including sex
offenders against children, officials said Wednesday.
The draft revisions of criminal law follow fierce public outcry over a local
court ruling that sentenced the rapist of an 8-year-old girl, who became disabled
because of the crime, to only 12 years in jail.
The nation's current laws carry sentences of death and life in prison or a
"limited prison term" of a maximum of 15 years, but there are no sentences
between the two extremes.
"The decision to sharply lengthen the maximum limited-term imprisonment is part
of the government's efforts to better reflect the growing public demand for
tougher punishment on sex crimes against children," the ministry said in a
statement.
The draft revisions also call for suspending the statute of limitations for sex
crimes against children under the age of 13 until the victims reach the age of
20, said the officials.
A growing number of violent sexual assaults on children have recently put
escalating pressure on the government and judiciary to get much tougher on sex
offenders.
In a related move to fight a growing number of sex crimes against minors, the
government last week announced a decision to disclose the identities of all
convicted child sex offenders on the Internet, beginning next year.
Under the measure, all adults aged over 20 will be allowed to log on to a
government-run Web site (www.sexoffender.go.kr) featuring the latest information
on all convicted child sex offenders, including name, age, address, photo and
summary of the offenses.
ejkim@yna.co.kr
(END)