Profiles in Judicial Insanity

by Robert Koehler on November 25, 2008

A suspended sentence to a grandfather and three uncles for repeatedly raping their mentally disabled teenage granddaughter/niece… so they can continue to care for her?

I’m speechless.

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Court Rules that Family Can Keep Teenager they: November 28, 2008 at 11:09 pm

{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }

1 hardyandtiny November 25, 2008 at 9:40 am: Any Korean who grew up in the countryside knows about this type of thing. THIS is old news.
2 iheartblueballs November 25, 2008 at 10:06 am: This must be an example of the uniquely Korean jeong I always hear about.

If only us Westerners had the capability for such emotions…
3 Gumi_teacher November 25, 2008 at 10:47 am: OMG! I am enraged…Men are the sky and women are the earth. I guess that makes disabled women even lower.

WTF! This should be an open and shut case…minimum 10 year jail sentences across the board…except for the guy who was convicted of rape already, he should get 20 years.

In the course of 7 years of raping…how many counts of rape is that? Are they just saying it was 1 time!
4 bizzle November 25, 2008 at 11:04 am: To readers of Korean discussion forums, whether foreign or Korean:

When rapists and child abusers get such low sentences in Korea, are any of the Korean people angry? If so, what do they do about it?

We all know if the rapists were foreigners, there would be country-wide mayhem. But what about right now? What are average Koreans saying or doing?
5 Granfalloon November 25, 2008 at 11:09 am: Okay, folks, before blaming this latest outrageous on the whole of Korean society, please read the original article. It’s not about the court case, it’s actually about the ANGER stemming from the ridiculous verdict. If you would take the time to read what KOREAN people are saying about it, you’d realize that it’s almost EXACTLY the same things that foreigners are saying.

Yes, it is a Korean that allowed such a perverted ruling. But it seems as though the Korean masses are reacting very much as we are.
6 SomeguyinKorea November 25, 2008 at 11:10 am: A few years ago, there was a similar tragic story in the news, something about a mentally disabled girl having been sexually assaulted by several of her neighbors in her very small farming village.
7 bizzle November 25, 2008 at 11:12 am: To clarify my #4 post, I know that people are “denouncing” the decision and circulating a petition in this case.

My question is also about the other cases, the more common cases of rape or molestation. Is there no push for harsher punishments?
8 cm November 25, 2008 at 11:27 am: “This must be an example of the uniquely Korean jeong I always hear about.

If only us Westerners had the capability for such emotions…”

Brilliant genius we have here!

Simply brilliant.
9 aaronm November 25, 2008 at 11:39 am: South Korea=Saudi Korea?
10 seouldout November 25, 2008 at 12:16 pm: South Korea=Saudi Korea?

I wouldn’t go that far. Saudi’s are permitted to marry 8-year-old girls. Koreans can’t do that. Yet. Marriage between first cousins is pretty common in KSA.

And the Saudi’s are generally bigger oafs and buffoons.

All in all, Korea has less jackassery than Saudi.
11 red sparrow November 25, 2008 at 12:25 pm: I don’t know why everyone is surprised at how out of touch the judiciary is in this country. There is a long, long history of these types of astonishing verdicts.

But what I want to know is has anyone here ever NOT feigned illness when accused of some wrongdoing?
12 Lazy_Contractor November 25, 2008 at 12:35 pm: “But what I want to know is has anyone here ever NOT feigned illness when accused of some wrongdoing?”

Nope.

If I do something wrong (knowingly or not) – I admit up to it. Thats how I was raised. To be fair – the level of wrongdoings I have done do not even come close to the severity of rape.
13 Jewook November 25, 2008 at 12:38 pm: Koreans are very angry and outraged about the verdict. (I think for once we are angry for a good reason.) But then you run into Korean’s narrow perspective again. They are signing a petition to have that judge removed from duty. Thus again going after the problem at hand but failing to see the bigger picture. The problem isn’t just one judge, if he gets removed there will always be another judge to let sex offenders off scot free. Koreans need to learn how to focus their anger and go after Korean lawmakers and the government instead and find a way to get them to change the law so judges don’t have any leeway to make light sentences.

There is a law, bynamed 혜진예슬법, in the works to enforce stricter sentences on sex offenders of minors. It also calls for the death sentence or life in prison for rape-murderers of minors. I’m not sure if it’s out yet. But 혜진예슬법 has its flaw, it mostly concentrates on sex crimes against minors under 13 years old, so even if it comes out judges can still let off sex offenders of teens. And I still question how hard it will be on sex offenders of minors who don’t commit murder.
14 globalvillageidiot November 25, 2008 at 2:14 pm: #10 – “Saudi’s are permitted to marry 8-year-old girls. Koreans can’t do that.”

Comparisons to Saudi Arabia – in almost any area – isn’t exactly setting the bar too high. Plus, I’d guess plenty of deviant sickos here would rather molest their victims without marrying them.
15 MrMao November 25, 2008 at 11:33 pm: ‘”Koreans are very angry and outraged about the verdict. ”

Angry AND outraged? Well then, I’m sure they’ll get to the bottom of this.
16 cm November 26, 2008 at 12:39 am: Is this case comparable to the American judge who sued a Korean American laundromat owners for lost pants? I thought there’s a distinction between average American people who were rightly outraged versus the screwed up judicial system which allowed such travesty of justice when those laundromat owners went bankrupt defending themselves. Too bad such distinction don’t get applied to Koreans.

I think Koreans should apologize to all the Western people for being so uncivilized enough to rape little girls and not get punished for it. Not that there should be a distinction between a screwed up Korea’s judicial system versus the majority of Koreans who think this is a fucked in the head judge(s). But you know, who cares.. they’re basically all the same primitive neanderthals like the Saudis. It’s Koreans’ “jung”!
17 CactusMcHarris November 26, 2008 at 1:58 am: Apparently the House of Saud suffers from a number of (at least) minor birth defects, due to first cousins marrying each other so often – it makes me think that Korea’s ahead on that score.