By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter

Victims from sexual crimes are getting younger, while the punishments for the offenders are still too light, the Ministry for Health, Welfare and Family Affairs said Monday.

The average age of the victims in 2007 was 14, while those under 13 years of age was at 32.7 percent from a total of 1,839 cases. The portion is a more than 5 percentage point jump from 2002.

The highest figure was for sex trade, at 41.9 percent. Groping and rape followed at 35 percent and 20.9 percent.

The ministry found that most of the crimes were initiated in the online world ㅡ marking 91.3 percent. The offenders were mostly aged in their 20s and 30s, but those over 40 were showing a constant increase. The younger offenders were more likely to rape the victims, while the older ones bought sex from the victims.

However, the punishments on these offenders were relatively weak. Only 26.9 percent were sentenced to imprisonment, while 42.1 percent were simply fined, and 30.5 percent got their sentences suspended.

Calls are now growing for harsher punishment because sexual crimes tend to be repeated. More than 15 percent of convicted offenders had previous convictions in the same area.

The family affairs ministry decided earlier this month to allow people to get information on child molesters at local police stations and punish those who ``arrange'' any sex trade.

bjs@koreatimes.co.kr