200 Sex Offenders Living Together... "Risk of Conspiracy and Recidivism"

Moving into the Same Residence and Past Accomplices Living Together
"Co-habitation of High Recidivism Offenders Must Be Prevented"

Currently, there are 90 addresses nationwide where two or more sex offenders live together, with the number of offenders reaching 200.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 13th, the office of Lee Hyung-seok, a member of the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, analyzed the 'Sex Offender Notification e-Site' and found that there are 90 locations nationwide where two or more registered sex offenders have registered the same residence.

The total number of sex offenders living in such arrangements is 222, with an average of 2.5 sex offenders cohabiting at each location.

In fact, one sex offender, Mr. A, lived in Ssangmun-dong, Dobong-gu, Seoul until August, before moving his registered address to a house in Banghak-dong, Dobong-gu, where another sex offender, Mr. B, resided.

In Chungnam Province, two sex offenders with a past accomplice relationship currently live at the same residence.

According to the '2023 Sex Crime White Paper' published by the Ministry of Justice, sex crimes committed by two or more individuals together amounted to 5,525 cases over five years from 2016 to 2020. During the same period, this accounted for about 3.7% of the total sex crime cases (149,713 cases).

Rep. Lee stated, "Considering the risk of recidivism among sex offenders, a thorough investigation is necessary to prevent new criminal conspiracies among offenders living in the same house," and added, "Measures should also be prepared to prevent cohabitation among sex offenders."

At the Ministry of Justice's National Assembly inspection report on the 11th, Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon said, "To alleviate public anxiety caused by the release of high-risk sex offenders, we have been promoting the introduction of the Jessica Act, which restricts their residence," and added, "We will announce the legislation and provide explanations within this month."

The Korean version of the Jessica Act is expected to include provisions preventing high-risk sex offenders, such as those who committed crimes against children under 13, from residing within 500 meters of educational facilities for minors, including elementary, middle, and high schools, daycare centers, and kindergartens, after their release, in order to prevent recidivism.

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