South Korea jails disabled care home head for sexually assaulting residents
A South Korean court sentenced a former care home director to 15 years in prison for sexually assaulting residents. The case has triggered a nationwide inspection of care facilities and raised questions about systemic oversight.
Why it matters
Exposes failures in the protection of vulnerable populations and prompts significant government policy reform regarding disability care.
Image source, Getty Images Image caption, Many in South Korea have questioned how the director's actions could have gone undetected for so long
A South Korean court has jailed the former head of a disabled care home for sexually assaulting multiple residents, in a case that shocked the nation.
The man, surnamed Kim, was handed a 15-year prison term for abusing three residents at the Saekdongwon facility in Incheon City, west of Seoul.
Police started investigating Kim after one of his victims, a woman with a severe intellectual disability, came forward in February last year.
The case has prompted the government to inspect 1,507 care facilities for disabled people across the country, where 33 cases of suspected abuse were found.
South Korean Prime Minister Kim Min-seok had described the abuse at Saekdongwon as "a grave matter that calls into question the very reason for the state's existence".
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