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, raped a junior high school girl he met on a random chat several times over a period of two years.
The defendant was tried on charges of continuous sexual exploitation, including sexually abusing women. Defendant A was sentenced to eight years in prison in the first instance, but appealed, arguing 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, and then made a criminal deposit of 35 million won (approximately 3,500,000 yen) with the victim in the appeal trial.
The company settled the matter for 841,000 yen, received a letter of agreement from the victim stating that it did not want to be punished, and submitted it to the court. In addition, the company tried to reduce the amount of the crime by submitting a letter of apology for about 20 days.
However, the court did not accept A's argument. The court explained, "The victim has suffered severe mental distress and aftereffects to this day, and it seems unlikely that she will be able to fully recover from her injuries."
Even if we take into consideration the fact that the victim agreed to the crime and submitted a petition for non-penalization due to financial difficulties, the sentence of eight years is within the range of the recommended sentencing guidelines and is not considered to be too severe.
"Not wanting to be punished is unlikely to be a decisive reason for a reduction in sentence," he added.