Donating to a women's organization saying "I reflected"... Is there any way to stop the 'sentence reduction trick'?

<Anchor>

We reported yesterday (2nd) that perpetrators undergoing trial for sex crimes submit all kinds of documents, including pledges for organ donation, and share the contents with each other in order to receive a lower sentence. There are also cases where the sentence was reduced after committing a crime.

First, let's look at reporter Park Ye-rin's report and talk more.

<Reporter>

A public official who was handed over to trial for illegal filming in 2019.

Her sentence was commuted to a fine in the second trial, taking into account her regular donations to social welfare institutions.

In order to maximize the message of reflection toward the court, a black hand is also extended to a support group for victims of sexual crimes.

Likewise, Mr. A, who was prosecuted for illegal filming, sent a regular donation to the Korea Sexual Violence Relief Center, and the fine in the first trial was lowered to a suspended sentence in the second trial.

Organizations that discovered the hidden intentions belatedly started to return donations.

[Kim Hye-jeong/Director of the Sexual Violence Counseling Center: We are giving back or refusing to support, saying that it is against the purpose of our sponsorship.

The issuance of certificates is being very strict right now.] The

National Sexual Violence Counseling Center checked the identities of the donors of seven organizations to which it belongs.

Then, 87 of those who expressed their intention to deliver donations were found to be sex crime perpetrators, and 14 cases actually paid donations.

A 'trick' was mobilized for organizations that refused to donate.

There are many proxy donations, such as cases where lawyers donate in the name of the perpetrator or parents donate in the name of the perpetrator.

It was investigated that most of these methods are informed by the perpetrator's lawyer and even acted as an agent.

According to the National Court Administration, 70.9% of sex offenders have had their sentences commuted because of 'serious remorse'.

Enlarge Image

However, in reality, 'fake reflection' is prevalent, and there is also a lack of institutional devices that can faithfully reflect the victim's intentions to the trial.

[Kim Hye-jeong/Director of Sexual Violence Counseling Center: (Judge) This imbalance of looking into the circumstances of the accused in more detail is occurring.

.]

(Video coverage: Yoon Hyung, video editing: Lee Seung-hee, CG: Jang Seong-beom · Hong Seong-yong, material provided: Song Ki-hyun's office)

---

<Anchor>

Let's talk more with reporter Park Se-won, who covered this story.

[Reporter Park Se-won: There were such tricks to look good to the judge rather than to the victims.

First of all, letters of reflection and petitions were the basics of the basics, and an organ donation pledge also appeared.

There is an Internet cafe with over 100,000 subscribers.

There, tips for commuting sentences were also being shared, and there was a sexual harassment prevention training institute that went viral here.

Also, as you saw earlier, there were many cases in which donations were made to organizations that support victims of sex crimes and these records were submitted to the court.]

[Reporter Park Se-won: The problem is that these sham sentencing materials submitted to the court are not properly filtered.

For example, in the case of the organ donation pledge, it was confirmed that the name and signature were written differently, but the court judged that the defendant deeply regrets and reflects on his mistakes.

It is also questionable whether the voices of the victims are being listened to during the trial process.

The victim we met was also angry that the perpetrator had not apologized to him, but the reflection was recognized only with various documents.]

[Reporter Park Se-won: First of all, it seems to be an issue that needs to be considered together with the prosecution, the courts, and the political world.

The prosecution, who is in charge of maintaining the prosecution, must first determine the authenticity of the data for the reduction of the sentence made by the accused and their helpers, and the court must also properly confirm whether this is a false reflection or not through a final cross-check.

In addition, the Supreme Court's sentencing committee defined the sentencing standards for sexual offenses.

Here, the definition of sincere remorse is a case where it is recognized that you are sincerely repenting.

However, in reality, the data to confirm the authenticity are being polluted and it is not filtered properly.

In addition, when we covered the National Assembly, there was even a proposal to amend the Criminal Code to specify what the victim thought about the punishment of the perpetrator and to specify the reason for extenuating sentencing, but it was pending in the National Assembly for nearly a year.]

(Video coverage: Lee Yong-Kim Seung-tae, video editing: Ha Seong-won, CG: Kang Kyung-lim)