Sexual Harassment During Class... Suspended Sentence for Former Teacher in Gwangjin-gu School Me Too Case

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Jung-yoon] A former middle school teacher who repeatedly committed verbal and physical sexual harassment against students during class was sentenced to a suspended prison term.

Judge Cho Guk-in of the Seoul Eastern District Court Criminal Division 9 sentenced A (60), who was charged with violating the Special Act on the Punishment of Child Abuse Crimes, to 6 months in prison with a 2-year suspension on the 8th. In addition, A was ordered to attend 40 hours of child abuse recidivism prevention lectures.

A, a public middle school ethics teacher, was tried on charges of sexual abuse for making obscene remarks such as "Women should be beautiful and curvy like Aphrodite" during class and touching students' shoulders and other body parts over a period of one and a half years starting in 2017.

A’s side argued that there was no physical contact with the victims and that the verbal sexual harassment was only mentioned during the explanation of related topics in class followed by criticism, and thus was not sexual abuse. However, Judge Cho recognized most of the charges as guilty.

Judge Cho explained, "Considering the duration and frequency of the offenses, the culpability is not light and strict punishment is necessary," adding, "It appears to have harmed the normal personality development of middle school students."

He continued, "While strict punishment is deemed necessary, consideration was given to the fact that A worked diligently as a teacher for about 30 years and received a severe disciplinary action of dismissal due to the offense."

This case became known after students at the school first reported it through social networking services (SNS) in September 2018. At that time, students criticized A by posting sticky notes all over the school, accusing him of habitual sexual harassment and sexist remarks.

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