The trial of former director Kim, who was indicted and detained on charges of raping and assaulting residents with severe disabilities at Saekdongwon, a residential facility for people with severe disabilities in Ganghwa County, Incheon, begins on the 10th. The key issue is expected to be whether the case constitutes sexual violence that exploited the protective and supervisory relationship between the facility head and the residents, and whether it amounted to structural abuse repeatedly committed within the facility beyond individual crimes.
The Seoul Central District Court Criminal Agreement Division 29 (Presiding Judge Eom Ki-pyo, Director General judge) will hold the first preparatory hearing at 10:10 a.m. on the 10th for Kim, who was brought to trial on charges including injury by rape under the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment of Sexual Crimes, rape of a person with disabilities under protection, and violations of the Act on Welfare of Persons with Disabilities. A preparatory hearing is a procedure to confirm the positions of the defendant and the prosecution and discuss proof plans before full-fledged proceedings, and the defendant is not required to appear.
According to prosecutors, while running Saekdongwon, Kim raped one resident with disabilities twice in Feb. last year and, when the victim refused, threw a glass cup and injured the victim; Kim also faces charges of raping two other residents with disabilities. An allegation of assaulting a resident with a severe intellectual disability in Dec. 2021 is also included in the indictment.
The investigation gained momentum after the allegations became public. Police launched a dedicated investigation, and prosecutors are said to have formed a task force to review the case even before it was referred. Prosecutors later said they confirmed assault charges and additional rape charges through supplementary investigation and brought the case to trial.
In this trial, a key issue is how to view the establishment of sexual violence against a person with disabilities under protection, premised on the protective and supervisory relationship between the facility head and the resident with disabilities. Given that suspicions were raised from the early stages of the investigation that there could be additional victims, attention will also focus during the forthcoming proceedings on the scope of the indictment and how far additional evidence of victimization emerges.