[Editorial] No leniency on sex crimes

A box-office hit based on the true story of sex crimes against disabled students by their brazen teachers has turned the nation into a seething cauldron of anger.

The film, titled “Dogani,” which means a crucible or cauldron in English, depicts a real case that took place at Inhwa School, a special education institution for the hearing-impaired in Gwangju. There, a dozen or so students were raped and sexually assaulted by faculty members for five years, starting in 2000.

The case was brought to light in 2005 by a teacher newly appointed to the school. He informed a counseling center for the disabled of the sexual violence committed by the institution’s shameless teachers, including the headmaster. Dozens of civic groups launched a committee to bring the offenders to justice.

A prosecution investigation found 10 teachers were involved in the crimes. But only six of them were indicted as parents of some of the victims did not press charges. Of the six, two got off scot free as the statute of limitations on their cases had expired and another two were given a suspended sentence. Only two were sentenced to jail terms of one year and two years, respectively.

The case had almost vanished from the public’s memory, despite the committee’s efforts to draw people’s attention to the problems that were still unresolved, including treating the traumatized victims and having the school compensate them. But last week, it was brought back into the public eye with the opening of the film.

The movie is based on a novel written by novelist Kong Ji-young in 2009. It began to attract a large number of viewers from the opening day. In the first week, it drew 1.2 million viewers. Many were outraged by the mild punishments given to the criminals. They were dismayed by the appellate court judge’s decision to soften the initial punishments against them on the grounds that they had reached a settlement with the plaintiffs.

Viewers also directed their anger at the prosecutors who simply allowed some of the offenders to get away with their crimes. Under the current law, prosecutors cannot indict sex offenders unless the victims file a complaint. The teachers took advantage of this loophole and put pressure on the parents of the victims.

To our dismay, five of the 10 teachers involved in the sexual violence are still teaching in the school. Furthermore, the government has continued to provide it with subsidies amounting to 1.8 billion won per year.

Some of those angered by the film launched an online campaign calling for action, including the closure of the school and the removal of the statute of limitations for sex crimes. It resonated with people. During the past few days, more than 40,000 people signed up to it. The public uproar has prompted police to reopen the case.

The Inhwa School case is a painful reminder of the large deficit in Korean society of care and concern for the wellbeing of people with disabilities. Hence the government, National Assembly and court should seek to make up for it.

The government has thus far been negligent in supervising private welfare facilities. It needs to step up monitoring of these institutions, especially those run by family members, such as Inhwa School.

The National Assembly has been turning a deaf ear to calls to abolish the statute of limitations for sex crimes. It needs to give serious consideration to the idea. Last year, it made it possible for the prosecution to investigate sexual abuse of children even if there is no complaint filed by the parents of the victims. This should also apply to sexual crimes against disabled people.

The court should review its practice of giving suspended sentences to sex offenders even when the victims have physical or mental disabilities. Judges should not ignore the resentment that the public feel toward them because of their repeated lenient sentences for sex offenders.