Teenager gets four years in jail for filming women's toilets in Jeju

Schoolteachers protest in front of the Jeju District Court on April 29 to demand heavier punishment of an offender who illegally filmed women’s toilets at a high school on Jeju Island last year. [YONHAP]

A 19-year-old male former student convicted of illegally filming women’s restrooms in his high school and at his family's restaurant in Jeju and distributing the videos through social media was sentenced to four years in prison on Wednesday.

The Jeju District Court also said he violated the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment of Sexual Crimes and will be blocked from employment at institutions related to children and disabled people for five years. The local court ordered him to receive 40 hours of psychological therapy as well.

He was convicted of illegally filming women's restrooms at his father's restaurant and his co-ed high school, as well as women at bus stops, 235 times between September and mid-October last year. He was also convicted of circulating the clips around 10 times on social media.

On Oct. 18, a teacher at his high school discovered a hidden mobile device planted inside a tissue box in the school’s toilet cubicle. The teacher then reported the discovery to the police.

The then-minor surrendered himself to the police two days after the report was filed. The school expelled him on Nov. 7.

According to digital forensic analysis, the number of victims totaled approximately 200, including 10 schoolteachers and some 40 classmates. About 150 unidentifiable victims are assumed to be travelers and residents.

He has been detained as a flight risk since Dec. 6.

The judge said the nature of the offense was “extremely malicious” because he “cunningly hid cameras in toilet areas and distributed the recordings, which can trigger victims’ sexual embarrassment, to fulfill his sexual desire.”

The judge also noted that children and adolescents were among the victims.

Yet, the judiciary considered the 19-year-old’s admission of his offenses and that he was a minor when he committed his crimes.

After the local court’s ruling, a labor union representing schoolteachers in Jeju issued a statement saying it would “take the lead so that the offender faces harsher punishment.”

The group said it would “raise awareness of the crime through a nationwide petitioning protest demanding stricter penalties” if victimized schoolteachers ask an appellate court for a heavier sentence.

The union pointed out that a “vicious cycle is created by lighter punishments of underage sexual offenders,” adding that more cases of illegal filming of teachers arose even after the 19-year-old's case was discovered.

The group also said the affected teachers were traumatized.

The recent ruling should become a founding stone that can help “guarantee basic human rights of schoolteachers and foster a safer and sounder educational environment,” the union said.

The union promised to support schoolteacher victims and put effort into preventing recurrences of similar crimes.

BY IM SOUNG-BIN, LEE SOO-JUNG [lee.soojung1@joongang.co.kr]