"‘I Will Help You Make Money’ Man Pretending to Be Boyfriend Sells Disabled Woman to Red-Light District"

Uijeongbu District Court. A group who lured intellectually disabled women in their teens and twenties and sold them to red-light districts were sentenced to imprisonment.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jumi Lee] A group that systematically approached intellectually disabled women in their teens and twenties, dated them, and then sold them to red-light districts has been sentenced to prison.

The Uijeongbu District Court Criminal Division 11 (Presiding Judge Moonse Lee) announced on the 19th that A (29) and B (29), who were indicted on charges of inducing prostitution, were sentenced to three years in prison and had 4.5 to 5 million won in proceeds seized. A also received an additional six-month prison sentence for special theft charges.

The court ordered them to complete 40 hours of sexual violence treatment programs and imposed a five-year employment ban at child and youth-related institutions and welfare facilities for the disabled.

The court explained, "The defendants systematically divided roles within the group to induce three intellectually disabled individuals into prostitution, showing particularly bad criminal nature," and added, "They have not yet been forgiven by the victims."

It continued, "The defendants committed crimes of inducing prostitution during their probation period," and "considering that they partially admitted to the crimes and participated but did not lead the offenses," explained the sentencing rationale.

According to the court, C, who led and directed the crimes, introduced A, B, and other juniors from Mokpo, Jeonnam, to pimps in Paju's 'Yongjugol,' a red-light district, in April 2019. He proposed that if they lured women to work in prostitution, they would receive 2 million won per person.

He also specifically instructed them not to mention prostitution when luring women but to make women with heavy debts their girlfriends and tell them they would introduce places where they could earn a lot of money.

Accordingly, in June of the same year, A and B, along with the group, deceived an 18-year-old intellectually disabled woman who was dating one of them in Mokpo City by saying, "There is a place that pays much more than the convenience store you are currently working at," and handed her over to Yongjugol to engage in prostitution. A month later, A, together with B and the group, handed over a 23-year-old intellectually disabled woman he was dating to Yongjugol using the same method.

A deceived this woman by saying, "It's inconvenient without a car. If we had a car, it would be good for us too," pretending to continue dating her and collected an advance payment of 6 million won.

Later, B heard that this woman was struggling after leaving Yongjugol and approached her again, taking her to a coffee house in Gokseong, Jeonnam, where she worked. B pocketed 1.2 million won during this process.

Also, A and B deceived a 19-year-old woman they knew by saying, "I will introduce you to a place where you can earn enough money not to be looked down upon," and took her to Yongjugol.

A total of 11 people, including A and B, participated in the crime. The other nine, including C, were indicted last month, and three pimps were indicted in November last year; their trials are still ongoing. It has been confirmed that among the defendants on trial is a gangster from the Mokpo area. They are also accused of involvement in prostitution of about ten other women besides Yongjugol.

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