A middle school teacher who sexually exploited a female student he met on a random chat for two years was sentenced to eight years in prison in South Korea.

A middle school teacher who sexually exploited a female middle school student he met on a random chat for several years was sentenced to eight years in prison.
- The court dismissed the appeal filed by Defendant A, who was indicted on charges of rape and other offences under the Act on the Protection of Sexual Activity of Minors, and upheld the first-instance ruling that sentenced him to eight years in prison.
Defendant A, who was a junior high school teacher, engaged in continuous sexual exploitation of a female junior high school student whom he met through random chat, including raping her several times over a two-year period.
Defendant A was put on trial on suspicion of fraud. Defendant A was sentenced to eight years in prison in the first trial and appealed the sentence, claiming that the sentence was too heavy. Defendant A made a criminal deposit of 50 million won (approximately 5,487,150 yen) in the first trial, but
Subsequently, at the appeal hearing, a settlement was reached with the victim for 35 million won (approximately 3.841 million yen), and a written agreement was received from the victim stating that she did not wish to be punished, which was then submitted to the court.
Furthermore, he tried to reduce his sentence by submitting a letter of apology over about 20 days, but the court did not accept his argument.
The court said, "The victim has suffered severe mental distress and aftereffects to this day, and it seems unlikely that she will ever fully recover from her injuries."
He continued, "Even if we take into consideration the fact that the victim agreed and submitted a petition for non-penalization due to financial difficulties as a circumstance favorable to the defendant, I do not think that the eight-year sentence is too severe, as it is within the range of the recommended sentence guidelines.
"The desire of a minor not to be punished is unlikely to be a decisive reason for a reduction in sentence," he added.