Most Child Sex Crimes Linked to Acquaintances
By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter
The Ministry for Health, Welfare and Family Affair said Wednesday that among 965 convicted cases of sex crimes against children, rape accounted for an increased portion. It said that in the January to June period of 2007 instances of rape made up 19.4 percent of the total, up from 15.8 percent in the previous six months. Sex between adults and minors (statutory rape) made up the majority of cases, accounting for more than 46 percent.
With regard to instances of child molestation, more than 70 percent of victims were under 13 years old, showing the age of victims is dropping.
While offenders were mostly men in their 30s ― accounting for 34 percent ― perpetrators in their 40s and 60s also marked a significant increase.
Crimes took place in the afternoon, when schools were finished. Motels were commonly used for rapes, while jjimjilbang, or Korean saunas, were used for molestation.
In cases where the victims were under 13, the offender's house ― including close relatives ― was the No.1 location, though schools and playgrounds were also used in 7 percent of crimes.
The lower the age of the victims and the more serious the crime was, the higher the chance that the perpetrator was an acquaintance.
Dr. Baek Sang-bin of GangNeung Asan Hospital said, ``if you know the person, then you feel less intimidated or less strange, which reduces your cautiousness. It could turn into a tragedy if the offender is drunk as the victim can seldom persuade him or her to stop.''
As part of government countermeasures, the ministry recently placed a record of child molesters and other sex offenders online and said other policies adopted by Britain, Singapore and Australia were also being studied.
``We are working on educating offenders to prevent recidivism. We will also install more surveillance cameras around school zones and are putting electronic ankle tracking devices on offenders for up to 10 years from September,'' a ministry spokesman said.
Welfare Minister Kim Soung-yee urged people to take extra care of their children's safety. ``We estimate 5,460 youths were victims of sex crimes last year. While the government is focusing on setting up infrastructure reduce these, please help victims return to a normal life.'' he said in a statement.