Man gets suspended sentence for sexual exploitation of youths

A Gyeonggi court on Wednesday handed down a suspended prison term to a man for sexually exploiting a high school student and other youths in search of a temporary job.

The Uijeongbu District Court sentenced the 36-year-old man to one year in jail with a stay of execution for two years. He was also ordered to undergo 40 hours of sex education classes.

The man was indicted for paying money to the victim for sex on multiple occasions. The victim, who was 16 years old at the time, had posted on a renowned job site looking for a job. 

According to the court, the man had lured his victim by offering her a lucrative job at a girlfriend rental company he said he works at. However, the company and the job were both fake. Their first encounter reportedly occurred at a subway station exit in Gwanak-gu, in southern Seoul, on July 2, 2016.

The victim said that the man persistently called for a meeting. He reportedly promised to pay up to 300,000 won ($280) per hour and another extra 400,000 won for sexual favors. The man also offered more money if she had sexual intercourse with him.

The victim, who was struggling financially, said she gave into his “job offer” and engaged in sexual intercourse with the man nine times.

Police arrested the man after two youths, aged 15 and 13, said they were also approached by the man using similar tactics via the employment site. The girls avoided further contact, citing the man’s “suspicious requests.“

The man admitted that he had paid the victim for sex the first time around, but claimed that the two had “consensual sex as romantic partners” going forward. He described the money he paid her as “pocket money and gifts.”

By Catherine Chung (cec82@heraldcorp.com)