Police have launched an investigation after signs emerged that the head of a residential facility for people with severe developmental disabilities in Incheon committed sexual violence against women with disabilities over several years.
According to police on the 19th, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency has booked and is questioning facility head A of Saekdongwon, a residential facility for people with severe developmental disabilities in Ganghwa County, Incheon, on suspicion of rape and forcible molestation of a person with disabilities under the Act on the Punishment of Sexual Crimes. After receiving a related report in Mar. last year, police conducted a search and seizure of the facility in Sep. the same year and, along with compulsory investigation steps, separated the women residents.
Because most of the victims are people with severe developmental disabilities, police were said to have faced difficulties in securing victim statements. As a result, the investigation is gaining speed centered on an "in-depth investigation report on Saekdongwon residents" compiled by a university research team commissioned by the local government.
According to the report, a total of 19 people experienced sexual harm, including all 17 women with disabilities who were at the facility as of Sep. last year and two who had already left. According to the JoongAng Ilbo, the research team obtained specific victim accounts from people with disabilities who could express themselves, such as "The director tried to touch me sexually," "It didn't help even if I told him to stop," and "It didn't matter whether it was day or night."
Circumstantial evidence of harm was also confirmed among people with disabilities who have difficulty expressing themselves. The research team used professional investigative techniques such as play, drawing, and photo-based inquiries to determine whether harm occurred. In the process, some people with disabilities reportedly re-enacted the crime nonverbally by lifting their tops or putting their hands on their genitals instead of answering questions.
The report also includes indications that the facility head threatened the women victims with a weapon to cover up the crimes. Most of the women with disabilities staying at the facility at the time were unaccompanied with no family or guardians and had almost no contact with outsiders, leaving them in a position where they had no choice but to rely on facility staff for all aspects of daily life, it was found.
The research team previously uncovered, through in-depth investigations, major human rights violations against socially vulnerable people, including the Gwangju Inhwa School case, known as the real incident behind the film "Silenced," and the Shinan salt farm forced-labor case. The current investigation is also assessed to have revealed the extent of the harm based on that expertise.
Police are closely examining whether there were additional victims and the circumstances of the crimes, using this report as a key source. A police official said, "The external institution's investigation confirmed indications that additional harm is suspected," and noted, "We are continuing the investigation with reference to the related materials."