By Kim Rahn
Staff Reporter
A professor was given a jail term for sexually harassing female students and bringing a filing a counteraction against them alleging false accusations and testimony.
The Seoul Central District Court sentenced the unidentified professor at a physical education college of a Seoul university to 10 months in prison, Wednesday. The 54-year-old was indicted for sexually harassing two female graduate students on five occasions ― he made one of them sit next to him at a karaoke bar in northern Seoul and forcibly kissed her while other students were singing in February 2007.
``We find him guilty, as the victims testified the circumstances before and after the harassment in detail, consistently, and witnesses also gave consistent testimony,’’ the court said.
``It is deplorable that the professor conducted indecent acts on students by taking advantage of his status as he can influence their grades or other aspects of school life. He also deserves a prison term considering that he did not reflect on his wrongdoing but counterclaimed against the victims for false accusation,’’ it said.
Jail terms are common for child molesters, but local courts rarely hand down a prison sentence to offenders charged with sexually harassing adults.
rahnita@koreatimes.co.kr