Half-brother accused of repeatedly raping sister

The mother of a mentally-disabled daughter filed a complaint with the prosecution for the fifth time since 2003, Wednesday, accusing her daughter’s half brother of raping her.

The 57-year old woman, identified only as Chang, took her 35-year old daughter to the Busan District Prosecutors’ Office and sued a 42-year old man, only identified by his last name Kim, for sexually assaulting her daughter three times between April and June 2003. The seven-year statute of limitations ends on June 23.

In 1974, Chang conceived her daughter as a result of a sexual assault by Kim’s father.

“He first got me drunk and then raped me. It was not easy for me to disclose it to my family and friends back in the 1970s. I hid it from them,” she said. “When my daughter was 2-years old, the man who raped me was killed in an automobile accident. But due to financial matters, I became acquainted with his family members later.”

Chang then said when Kim was 35 years old in 2003, he raped her 28-year old daughter who was studying theater arts at university. As a result of the sexual assaults, the daughter suffered from a mental disorder and was hospitalized for 10 months.

After finding out what happened to her, Chang filed a complaint against Kim for sexual assault with the police in Busan in February 2004 and searched for witnesses and evidence to prove Kim’s guilt. She filed complaints with the police and the prosecution three more times over the years, but every time he was cleared of the charges due to a lack of evidence.

One witness’s testimony was dismissed as unreliable. Investigators cross examined the daughter against Kim without Chang’s presence, yielding favorable results for the accused.

Additionally, it took eight months for Chang to find out about the rape and file the complaint, making it harder to secure reliable evidence and testimonies.

The daughter’s inconsistent statements as a result of her mental disorder put the accuser in a weak position.