60-Year-Old Teacher Using Sexual Expressions During Class Found 'Not Guilty'

/Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Kim Yeon-ju] A teacher in his 60s who was indicted for using sexual expressions toward students during class was acquitted.

The 12th Criminal Division of the Gwangju District Court (Chief Judge Jeong Jae-hee) announced on the 11th that it acquitted teacher A (62), who was indicted for violating the Special Act on the Punishment of Child Abuse Crimes (aggravated punishment for child abuse by child welfare facility workers, etc.).

The court stated, "A's behavior appears to be highly inappropriate to direct toward students," and "the victims likely felt severe discomfort or emotional distress."

However, the court added, "It is difficult to see that A's actions stemmed from a malicious attitude or had a sadistic nature," and "although the remarks and actions are highly likely to be socially and ethically condemnable, they are difficult to evaluate as acts that caused physical harm to the child or as acts of abandonment or neglect."

Furthermore, the court explained, "Since the actions were not directed at a specific individual, it is also difficult to consider them as acts intended to abuse a particular person, nor do they appear to have been repeated," and "considering these points, it is difficult to conclude that A committed emotional abuse beyond inappropriate language and behavior," thus explaining the reason for the acquittal.

A was indicted on charges of emotionally abusing students by using sexual expressions about three times while conducting classes at school from 2017 to 2018.

At the time, A reportedly made remarks such as "It's 'jiji,' not 'jjiji'" while explaining the word meaning "to support," and "What is insertion?"

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.