By Lee Hyo-sik
A 21-year-old U.S. soldier has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for raping a teenage Korean girl.
It is the heaviest sentence given to a U.S. serviceman for a crime committed here since 2001 when the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) was revised to grant local law enforcement authorities more investigation rights.
The Uijeongbu District Court said Tuesday that the solider will also undergo a treatment program designed to cure those committing rape and other sex-related crimes for 80 hours.
The court also ordered his personal information, including his name and address, to be open to the public for 10 years.
The harsher-than-expected sentence is seen to reflect growing public demand for U.S. soldiers and their family members to be subject to more severe punishment for crimes they commit against Koreans.
The soldier, assigned to the 2nd U.S. Infantry Division in Dongducheon, broke into an apartment near his unit at around 4 a.m. on Sept. 24 and raped an 18-year-old girl. He then fled the scene after stealing 5,000 won.
``The defendant claims he was intoxicated at the time of the crime so that he could not tell what was right and what was wrong. But considering how he broke into an apartment and fled the scene after raping the girl, we cannot accept his argument,’’ the court said.
It also said the teenage victim was sexually assaulted for three hours, adding she was not provided with any financial compensation nor properly taken care of after the attack.
``We took all these factors into account when handing down a verdict. The defendant deserves to be severely punished.’’
Lawyers representing the soldier said they will decide whether to appeal to higher courts after consulting with him.
Additionally, a Seoul court is expected to soon rule on another case in which a U.S. soldier raped a teenager girl. On Sept. 17, the 21 year-old army private with the 1st Signal Brigade of the Eighth United States Army entered a one-room apartment in Mapo-gu, Seoul, at around 5:45 a.m. and raped an 18-year-old girl and stole her laptop.
Following the sexual assaults on Korean women by U.S. military servicemen, the U.S. Armed Forces here issued a late-night curfew on Oct. 8, keeping soldiers on base for a month.