By Kim Bo-eun
Those convicted of sex offenses against minors have shown a remarkably low recidivism rate of 0.1 percent since their personal information was made public, according to data compiled by Rep. Min Hyun-joo of the ruling Saenuri Party Tuesday.
Among the 1,662 offenders who had their personal details posted on a website set up by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, only two committed the same offense again.
The ministry has been running the site (www.sexoffendors.go.kr), which posts photos and the home address of offenders since Jan. 1, 2010. It is the first time recidivism rates have been studied and made public since it started the website.
According to a ministry study of 13,039 sex crimes against minors committed from 2000 to 2010, prior to the enforcement of information disclosure, the recidivism rate was 13.4 percent.
“It seems that reinforcing this measure which discloses the personal information of sex offenders is an effective way to prevent repeat offenses,” said the lawmaker.
A large number of people lodged complaints with the ministry after the kidnapping and murder of a school girl last month by a former sex offender in Tongyeong, South Gyeongsang Province, as his information had not been available on the ministry’s website as he was previously convicted in 2005.
The reason was that the site only had information of offenders that the court had ordered to be posted since January, 2010. The number of visitors to the website has soared since the Tongyeong incident.