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Child rapist Cho Doo-soon taken into immediate custody after sentencing for curfew violations

Published: 28 Jan. 2026, 13:56 Updated: 28 Jan. 2026, 17:52

Cho Doo-soon answers questions from reporters after attending his first trial hearing at the Suwon District Court’s Ansan branch in Ansan, Gyeonggi, on March 11, 2024. [YONHAP]

Convicted child rapist Cho Doo-soon was taken into immediate custody on Wednesday after being sentenced to prison time for repeatedly leaving his home in violation of court-ordered curfew restrictions.

The Suwon District Court sentenced Cho to eight months in prison for violating the Act on Electric Monitoring and other charges. The court also ordered custodial treatment, citing the risk of reoffending without treatment.

The court issued an arrest warrant for Cho immediately after delivering the verdict.

Cho is accused of leaving his residence in Danwon District, Ansan, Gyeonggi, multiple times from late March to early June 2025, in violation of restrictions that bar him from leaving during school commuting hours. The felon’s restricted hours are from 7 to 9 a.m. and from 3 to 6 p.m., as well as nighttime hours from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. the next day.

He is also charged with damaging the electronic location-tracking device installed in his home.

At the final hearing on Dec. 24, prosecutors asked the court to sentence Cho to two years in prison and order custodial treatment.

“Cho directly violated compliance requirements and caused extreme anxiety in the community,” said the prosecution. “He reoffended despite having already been punished for the same type of violation.”

Cho Doo-soon answers questions from reporters after attending his first trial hearing at the Suwon District Court’s Ansan branch in Ansan, Gyeonggi, on March 11, 2024. [YONHAP]

Cho pleaded for leniency, saying his actions were an impulsive result of deteriorating health. He has shown signs of what is believed to be delirium since earlier this year and is currently without a guardian after his wife left.

Still, the court found Cho guilty on all charges. On the charge of damaging the electronic device, the court found that Cho had directly damaged it, noting he was alone at home at the time and that the device appeared to have been broken with significant force.

The court said the compliance requirements imposed on those wearing electronic monitoring devices are intended to protect the public from crime and cannot be treated lightly.

“Cho had been wearing the device for five years and knew he must not violate the rules,” said the court. “He committed the offense again during the repeat-offender period after previously receiving a prison sentence for violating the curfew restrictions.”

The court, however, said it took into account mitigating factors, including that “the offense was committed while Cho was in a state of diminished responsibility due to mental illness,” and that the unauthorized outings were brief and that he was immediately returned by a probation officer.

Police patrol the area near Cho Doo-soon's residence in Ansan, Gyeonggi, following his release from prison in December 2020. [JOONGANG ILBO]

Asked by the presiding judge whether he had anything to say, Cho replied briefly that he did not.

Cho was convicted of abducting and sexually assaulting an elementary school student in front of a church in Ansan in December 2008, leaving the victim seriously injured, and served a 12-year prison term before being released on Dec. 12, 2020.

Cho was also sentenced to three months in prison after violating a nighttime curfew on Dec. 4, 2023, when he went out for about 40 minutes after claiming he had argued with his wife.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY CHOI MO-RAN [[email protected]]