"Can't Detain Because They're Juveniles"…Middle School Students Recklessly Acting on Age, Sentenced to Prison

Suspected of Special Theft and Obstruction of Official Duties
Stole Valuables from Car for Entertainment Expenses

Three middle school students were sentenced to prison for stealing valuables from parked cars, driving without a license, and assaulting police officers who responded to the scene.

On the 25th, Yonhap News reported that Judge Kang Ran-ju of the Criminal Division 3 at Jeju District Court sentenced A (15), who was detained and prosecuted on charges including special theft, obstruction of official duties, and violation of the Road Traffic Act, to 1 year and 6 months in prison as the long-term sentence and 1 year and 2 months as the short-term sentence.

Similarly, B (15), who was tried on the same charges, was sentenced to 1 year and 4 months long-term and 1 year short-term imprisonment, and C (15) was sentenced to 10 months long-term and 8 months short-term imprisonment.

A and the others are accused of stealing and secretly driving eight parked vehicles with unlocked doors around Jeju from late September to December last year.

They are also accused of stealing valuables and credit cards from the cars and using them. They raised 34 million won in cash by selling items purchased with stolen cards on online secondhand marketplaces and squandered the money on entertainment expenses.

They mainly targeted vehicles parked at Jeju International Airport parking building, parking lots of famous hotels in Jeju City, and the parking lot in Seogwipo City’s English Education City, selecting cars whose side mirrors were not folded in.

Despite being under police investigation, they continued their theft activities, reportedly believing they would not be detained because they were juvenile offenders. Additionally, on November 27 last year, they are accused of assaulting a police officer’s face who responded to a report of reckless driving on a motorcycle in Jeju City.

The court stated, "The defendants not only obstructed official duties but also assaulted police officers. Even after the investigation began, they did not show remorse and committed further crimes, and most of the damages have not been recovered."

Meanwhile, the number of violent crimes committed by quasi-juveniles aged 10 to under 14 is increasing. According to the Court Administration Office on the 10th, looking at the 'annual statistics' of quasi-juveniles sent to family courts on charges of the five major violent crimes (murder, robbery, rape/sexual assault, theft, violence) from 2012 to 2022, cases of injury or assault against parents or guardians surged from 1 case in 2014 to 96 cases in 2022.

The number of cases, which averaged only 6.5 from 2012 to 2017, has steadily increased to an average of 49.2 cases from 2018 to last year, nearly eight times higher. In particular, 77 cases and 96 cases were recorded in 2021 and last year, respectively.

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