By Kang Shin-who
Staff Reporter
Teachers committing sexual crimes have been let off with just light punishments, Rep. Choi Young-hee of the Democratic Party said Thursday.
A total of 124 sexual crimes involving elementary and secondary school teachers were reported to the education authorities between 2006 and 2009. Among them, 47 involved prostitution, 43 were sexual harassment and five were rape cases.
However, only eight teachers (6 percent) were given prison sentences, while 31 were not indicted and 28 received suspended sentences.
``It seems that teachers were exempt from punishment through out-of-court settlements with the parents of the victims,'' Rep Choi said.
``Moreover, each city and provincial education offices, which were supposed to strictly punish those teachers, gave only verbal warnings. Only 21 teachers were fired for sexual violence.''
According to data collected by the lawmaker, nearly 60 percent of the assailants were merely warned or reprimanded.
By region, Gyeonggi Province topped the list with 27 cases, followed by Seoul with 23, Incheon City with 15 and North Gyeongsang Province with seven.
Choi also said some cases showed the leniency of the education authorities toward problematic teachers. An elementary school teacher in Gyeonggi Province attempted to rape a female teacher at his school, but wasn't indicted after making an agreement with her.
A high school teacher in South Gyeongsang paid 100,000 won each to two minors for sex, but was only fined 3 million won and given a warning by the provincial office.
Another high school teacher in Seoul caressed the breasts of his female students while drunk and was at first fired by the city education office, but then given only a three-month job suspension when the Appeal Commission for Teachers reduced the punishment.
``We expect higher levels of ethics from teachers, but courts and education authorities are too merciful to problematic ones,'' Choi said.
kswho@koreatimes.co.kr
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