Seven teens jailed in South Korea for assaulting disabled man

Seven teenagers in South Korea were sentenced to prison on Wednesday, May 13, for collectively assaulting a mentally disabled 24-year-old man and filming the abuse.

The Seoul Southern District Court handed down prison terms ranging from 2 1/2 to five years to five male and two female defendants on charges related to sexual violence crimes, as per Korean media reports.

In addition to their sentences, all seven were ordered to complete a 40-hour sexual violence treatment program. Authorities also confiscated a mobile phone that had been used to film the molestation.

According to the case, the teenagers attacked the victim in November at a park in Yeouido. They stripped him of his clothes, physically assaulted him, and subjected him to molestation while recording the incident.

Prosecutors said the group targeted the victim because they were angered by a message he had sent to one of the female defendants.

During the assault, the attackers burned the victim’s arm with a half-smoked cigarette butt, inflicting third-degree burns and other injuries that required approximately six weeks of recovery.

In its ruling, the court stated that severe punishment was unavoidable, describing the level of violence as tantamount to abuse or torture.

By Tamilla Hasanova