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A 70-year-old pastor charged with habitually molesting and raping a teenage sister has been sentenced to imprisonment by the Supreme Court.



Today (14th), the first division of the Supreme Court (Chief Justice Roh Tae-ak) dismissed the appeal filed by A (72), who was charged with juvenile rape and other charges under the Juvenile Sexual Protection Act, and confirmed the sentence of the lower court, which sentenced him to 7 years in prison.



A, who was a church pastor and operated a local children's center, was charged with habitually molesting a teenage sister at a local children's center for two years from 2007.



Person A is charged with forcibly having sex with Miss B, then 17 years old, in the church office in 2008, and forcibly kissing Miss C, then 14 years old.



In addition, A is accused of sexually harassing Ms. C by exposing her genitals after taking Ms. C to the space behind the bookshelf in 2009.



In this case, the sisters suffered trauma for more than 10 years and then sued A after they became adults.




These sisters told the investigative agency that they had been raped 50 to 150 times by Mr. A, but Mr. A, who appeared in court, denied the charges, claiming that he had never molested these sisters.



In addition, in the course of the trial, Mr. A's side caused a controversy by asking the court to confirm that the victims were aware of this, saying that Mr. A's body has noticeable physical characteristics.



To this, the prosecution countered, saying, "Just because (the victim) can't remember the physical characteristics, does not make the accused innocent." You have to try hard to remember the body parts of the other perpetrators.”



The court did not accept A's request for a physical examination, citing that the incident occurred when the victim was a teenager, and there is a high risk of secondary harm.



In the end, the first and second trial courts sentenced A to 7 years in prison based on the fact that the victims consistently stated the circumstances and methods of the molestation, the structure of the crime location, the accused's words and actions before and after the crime, and the feelings he felt at the time of the crime. He was ordered to complete 80 hours of sexual violence treatment program, disclose personal information for 5 years, and limit employment at child and youth-related organizations for 10 years.



A's appeal brought the case to the Supreme Court, but the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal and confirmed the sentence of the lower court.



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(Photo = Yonhap News TV capture, Yonhap News)