Police have booked two people, including the head of the facility and a staff member, as suspects and launched an investigation in connection with allegations of sexual violence raised at a residential facility for people with severe developmental disabilities in Incheon.
Park Jeong-bo, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency Commissioner, said at a regular press briefing held at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on the 26th, "We began a preliminary inquiry in May last year, and in September we conducted a search and seizure of the facility," outlining the progress of the investigation.
Park said, "Most residents are people with severe disabilities and have difficulty expressing themselves, so the investigation is taking time," but emphasized, "We will determine the substantive truth through a thorough investigation."
The investigation began last month after police obtained the "Incheon Ganghwa-gun residential facility for people with disabilities (Saekdongwon) in-depth resident survey report."
The report, compiled by a private research institute, is said to contain statements that a total of 19 people—17 women with disabilities who were residents and two who had left the facility—suffered sexual victimization.
In connection with this, the Women and Juvenile Crime Investigation Unit of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, which is handling the case, has booked Saekdongwon director A on suspicion of rape and indecent assault against a person with disabilities under the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment of Sexual Crimes.
Using this case as a starting point, police plan to move up the nationwide joint inspection of facilities for people with disabilities, which had been conducted every year in May and June. The inspection period will run for about two months from Jan. 28 to March 31, and about 1,524 facilities for people with disabilities nationwide will be subject to it.