Appeals court lengthens sentence on serial child rapist

Kim Geun-sik [INCHEON POLICE]

Kim Geun-sik, 55, has been sentenced to five years in prison for raping a 13-year-old child 17 years ago.

The appeals court’s decision lengthens the initial three-year sentence handed down by the lower court.

The Suwon High Court on Wednesday also mandated that Kim wear a tracking device for 10 years after serving his time and participate in a 200-hour sexual violence treatment program.

The appeal court emphasized the necessity of raising the punishment due to the repetitive nature of his crimes and the absence of support for the victims' recovery.

The convicted serial rapist has spent more than 20 years in prison for raping 12 minors between the ages of 9 and 17 since 2000.

His tactic, in most cases, was to lure victims under the guise of needing assistance with heavy objects.

Kim first served more than five years for committing sexual assault against a minor in 2000.

During his arrest, the authorities found that Kim already had 19 convictions for other crimes.

After he was released in May 2006, he committed his first sexual assault just two weeks later.

In four months between May and September of the same year, he sexually assaulted an additional 10 girls.

Kim was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

Kim was originally scheduled to be released in September 2021. This was delayed for an additional year after the court handed him four months and eight months for two separate assaults on fellow inmates.

Kim was again detained a day before his release in 2022 after the court issued an arrest warrant for a previously undiscovered rape Kim committed in 2006.

The Gyeonggi and Incheon police were investigating seven cold cases when they found another rape that Kim had committed on a 13-year-old in a remote place next to an elementary school in Gyeyang, Incheon.

BY LEE HO-JEONG [lee.hojeong@joongang.co.kr]