Ministry of Health and Welfare: "New Sentencing Guidelines for Child Abuse Crimes Include Child Trafficking and Sexual Abuse, Contributing to Awareness Improvement"

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[Asia Economy Reporter Seo So-jeong] The government has expressed a welcoming stance on the establishment of new categories for child trafficking and sexual abuse in the sentencing guidelines for child abuse crimes.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare (Minister Kwon Deok-cheol) announced on the 13th that it expects the revised sentencing guidelines for child abuse crimes, disclosed by the Supreme Court Sentencing Commission at its plenary meeting on the 8th, to contribute to the promotion of children's rights and the improvement of awareness regarding child abuse.

The revision includes the addition of 'child trafficking and sexual abuse under the Child Welfare Act,' which had not been previously included in the sentencing guidelines for child abuse crimes.

Additionally, a new major category of 'child abuse' was established within the 'arrest, confinement, abandonment, and abuse crime group' sentencing guidelines, which currently include child abuse crimes.

Separately, the plenary meeting of the Sentencing Commission also disclosed amendments related to mitigation and aggravation factors concerning 'agreements' applied across all crime groups, including child abuse crimes.

According to the amendments, the aggravating factor of 'causing harm during an attempt to reach an agreement,' previously applied only to certain crime types such as sexual offenses, will be expanded to all crimes involving victims, including child abuse crimes.

This means that if a defendant continuously harasses the victim during the process of attempting an agreement, exerts undue pressure by implying tangible or intangible disadvantages if the agreement is refused, or actually causes harm, these will be considered factors for increasing the sentence.

However, the mitigation factor for 'non-prosecution request,' where the defendant sincerely repents and the victim or their family does not wish for punishment, will be maintained.

The sentencing range and aggravating/mitigating factors for child abuse crimes will undergo review and public hearings until January next year, with final approval scheduled for March 2022.

Minister Kwon Deok-cheol of the Ministry of Health and Welfare stated, "We welcome the Sentencing Commission's establishment of a separate category for related crimes, considering the seriousness of child abuse crimes," and urged, "We request the judiciary's active review during the detailed sentencing guideline deliberation process to help spread the awareness that child abuse is unacceptable in our society."

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