A Pakistani national who raped 7- and 9-year-old children at an Islamic mosque in Incheon 18 years ago was sentenced to seven years in prison and was taken into custody in court. The man denied the charges during the trial, but the court found the victims' specific and consistent statements credible.
The Criminal Division 1 of the Bucheon Branch of the Incheon District Court (Presiding Judge Na Sang-hun, Director General judge) on the 2nd sentenced a Pakistani national in his 40s, identified as A, indicted on charges including the rape of a minor under 13 under the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment of Sexual Crimes, to seven years in prison and took him into custody in court.
The court also ordered A to be barred from working for seven years at institutions related to children, adolescents, and people with disabilities, respectively.
The court said, "The victims testified to the main facts of the harm, including specific and atypical descriptions that one could not know without direct experience," and added, "It is also hard to find any motive or reason for them to make false statements unfavorable to the defendant."
It added, "Even the analysis report on their statements finds credibility, as they testified in detail to the main facts of the harm and the circumstances before and after the crime despite a considerable lapse of time," and, "There is no circumstance to view that the statements were formed by external suggestion or pressure, or were contaminated by mutual influence."
The court explained the sentencing reasons, saying, "The defendant took advantage of the fact that the victims' father was imprisoned and they had no guardian to forcibly molest the brothers," and, "They appear to have suffered significant psychological shock at a very young age, yet there has been no effort toward restoration for the victims."
Up until being taken into custody in court that day, A denied the charges, saying, "What the kids said is what their father told them to say."
Around Sept. 2008, A was indicted on charges of threatening and raping brothers B, then 7, and C, then 9, at an Islamic mosque in Seo District, Incheon (now Seohae District).
At the time, A was teaching the Islamic scripture "Quran" to the B brothers at the mosque. Knowing that the victims' father was imprisoned, A was found to have targeted the young brothers for the crimes.
A was found to have beaten the B brothers with a switch for not memorizing the Quran and committed the crimes, saying, "There is a way not to be hit."
The parents of the victimized brothers belatedly heard of the harm from their sons and reported it to police in 2024. The brothers' father said, "Even now, after a long time has passed, the children are struggling as they recall the harm."
Under the law on the punishment of sexual violence, the statute of limitations does not apply to rape crimes against children under 13.