"‘I'm a Scary Man’: Man in His 50s Sentenced to Prison for Attempted Abduction of Teen"

After Forcing Teenage Girl Out of Taxi, Said "Let's Walk Together"
Denied Abduction Charges but Court Did Not Accept Defense

A man in his 50s has been sentenced to prison for attempting to abduct a minor by offering to pay her taxi fare.

On May 7, Judge Seo Ji-won of the Seoul Southern District Court’s Criminal Division 5 sentenced Kim (58), who was arrested and indicted on charges of attempted abduction of a minor, to 10 months in prison.

Seoul Southern District Court, Yangcheon-gu, Seoul. Photo by Ji-ye Lee

The court did not accept the defendant's claim that there was no intention to commit the crime. Judge Seo stated, "There was no reason for the defendant to board the taxi with the victim," and added, "Even when the taxi driver asked, 'Should we go to the police station?' the defendant did not respond and instead demanded to get out, which does not seem to indicate an intention to hand over the victim to her parents." The judge continued, "Considering the victim's age and the method of the crime, the defendant's culpability is grave," and explained, "The victim is believed to have experienced significant psychological shock and fear, and has not been forgiven to this day."

Kim was arrested and indicted for attempting to abduct a teenage girl, referred to as A, whom he had never met before, at a bus stop in Yangcheon-gu, Seoul, around 12:30 a.m. on March 12. According to the investigation, Kim threatened A by boarding the taxi with her under the pretense of paying her fare and making remarks such as "I'm a scary man" and "If you act up, you'll get hurt."

It was found that Kim ignored the taxi driver's question about going to the police station and instead demanded the car stop, and that he also forcibly demanded that A get out of the taxi. After getting out, Kim chased A for about eight minutes and approximately 250 meters, repeatedly saying things like "Don't walk so fast" and "Let's walk together" until he was apprehended by the police, who had been called by the taxi driver.

Earlier, during the final trial, prosecutors had sought a three-year prison sentence for Kim. Kim’s side denied the charges, claiming he had no intention to abduct a minor. In his final statement, Kim said, "I am truly sorry to the victim," but added, "I sincerely hope it will be made clear that I had no bad intentions."

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