A high school student who repeatedly posted false threats claiming to have planted explosives at the school they attend and at public facilities was sent to the juvenile division. Prosecutors appealed the court's decision, saying the disposition was too lenient.
According to legal sources on the 28th, Kim Ki-ho, a single-judge panel at the Incheon District Court's Criminal Division 9, recently referred the case of teen A, who was indicted and detained on charges of public intimidation and obstruction of the performance of official duties by deceit, to the juvenile division.
Under the Juvenile Act, the court may transfer a case to the juvenile division if it determines that a minor under 19 needs behavior correction and a protective disposition. Once referral to the juvenile division is decided, protective dispositions numbered 1 through 10 may be imposed, ranging from custodial entrustment to long-term commitment to a juvenile reformatory, and no criminal record remains.
Prosecutors have appealed the court's decision to refer the case to the juvenile division.
A was brought to trial on charges of repeatedly posting, from Oct. 13 to Oct. 21 last year, messages to the 119 Safety Reporting Center claiming that explosives had been planted or would be planted at Daein High School in Seo District, Incheon, where A is enrolled.
A was found to have also posted bomb threat messages on an online community in Sept.–Oct. last year targeting middle and high schools and railway stations in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province, and Asan, South Chungcheong Province. In some of the offenses, another person's identity was stolen.
A prosecutorial investigation confirmed that A posted a total of 13 bomb threat messages.
A was reportedly said during questioning to have committed the offenses for fun or to induce school closures.