The Supreme Court has upheld a four-year prison sentence for a 63-year-old elementary school principal convicted of sexually abusing 10 students about 250 times.
The court rejected the appeal of the principal, identified only as A, and confirmed the lower court's four-year sentence, legal sources said on the 25th. A was indicted on charges of indecent acts against minors under 13 through abuse of authority under the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment of Sexual Crimes, and child abuse by a person working at a child-related institution, such as a school, under the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment of Child Abuse Crimes.
Prosecutors said A abused 10 students aged 6 to 11 about 250 times in the principal's office and on the school playground between April and December 2023, using the principal's position of authority, and repeatedly subjected them to sexual harassment.
A, who had served as principal of the school since September 2022, was legally required to report suspected child abuse but instead targeted young students who had not yet developed the capacity for sexual self-determination. Most of the offenses took place in the principal's office.
The case came to light after friends of one of the victims took action themselves. They filmed the abuse and set up a group chat to gather evidence. Several other victims came forward to their parents after hearing about what had happened to another student, exposing A's conduct.
The trial court found A guilty on all counts and sentenced A to eight years in prison. The appellate court, however, dismissed charges covering about 180 of the 250 alleged incidents, finding that the figure had been calculated mechanically from the children's statements, and reduced the sentence to four years. A appealed that ruling to the Supreme Court, which declined to overturn it.
