7 teens get prison terms for molesting mentally disabled person

The Seoul Southern District Court / Yonhap

Seven teenagers were sentenced to prison Wednesday for collectively assaulting a mentally disabled person and filming the victim being molested.

The Seoul Southern District Court sentenced five male and two female teenagers to prison terms ranging from 2 1/2 years to five years on charges related to sexual violence crimes.

All defendants were also ordered to complete a 40-hour sexual violence treatment program each. One mobile phone used to film the molestation was confiscated.

The teenagers are accused of stripping the 24-year-old victim of his clothes at a park in Seoul's Yeouido in November before beating and molesting him.

They allegedly committed the crime because they did not like a message the victim sent to one of the female defendants. They burned the victim's arm with a half-smoked cigarette butt, causing third-degree burns and injuries requiring six weeks of recovery.

The court said stern punishment was inevitable for the defendants because their violence was tantamount to abuse or torture.