Man beats up elementary school student in the elevator . . .on tape.

Monday, March 31, 2008

Man beats up elementary school student in the elevator . . .on tape.

Scroll down for updates (latest on April 2)

Some really ugly stuff here, but one of the top stories on Naver.



I'll wait until others get on the case, but some of the gossip I read on the teachers' forums said that, originally, the cops said they weren't able to do anything, and cited a lack of evidence? And so some five days later the parents went to the media. Any truth to that?

Video news report available here. One of the guys who originally broke the story said the video news report mentions the police's unwillingness to do anything, but of course I'm not fluent so I don't know for sure.

* Update 1: The Korea Times has the story in English now. Excerpts:

The girl had her hair pulled out and received bruises to body. Her parents reported it to the nearby police branch office about 10 minutes after the incident.

Police officers collected testimonies from the parents and the neighbor and checked the CCTV recording in the elevator. Despite the apparent kidnap attempt, the officers reported to Ilsan Police Station the next day that it was ``just a simple assault case'' committed by a drunken man, based on testimony that he smelled of alcohol.

and

Police are being criticized for neglecting the case and thus losing the chance to catch the suspect at an early stage. It was also reported that the police asked her mother not to talk about the case to the media.

President Lee Myung-bak said Monday that the public is incensed over the police's lukewarm attitude.

``As seen on the CCTV recording, it was really brutal. The state's utmost duty is to protect people's lives, but the police still show such an attitude at this time when many cruel cases remain unsolved and people feel pity for them. The police need to change,'' Lee said.

Absolutely Sparkling.

* Update 2: Caught him:



The Korea Times has the story in English. An excerpt:

Lee said that he was drunk when he was walking behind her. The girl gave him a suspicious glance, and he tried to tell her that he was not a bad person. He got angry at her attitude and beat up her, according to his testimony. Police are investigating the reason for this action.

He was previously in jail for 10 years for habitually sexually assaulting minors and was released two years ago, police said.

Police caught him after confirming through CCTV recordings in subway stations on line 3 that he took a subway train at Daehwa Station near the apartment complex and got off at Suseo Station.

Despite the arrest, police are being faulted for failing to react swiftly to the failed kidnapping and losing the chance to catch Lee earlier.

Her parents reported the attack to a nearby police office about 10 minutes after the incident. Police officers collected testimony from the parents and the neighbor and checked the CCTV recording in the elevator. Despite the apparent kidnap attempt, the officers reported to Ilsan Police Station the next day that it was ``just a simple assault case'' committed by a drunken man, based on testimony that he smelled of alcohol.

Ah, employing the "I was drunk" defense. Smart move.

* Update 3: The story is in all the papers now, as is news that "Child Sex Offenders Will Face Harsher Penalties." The Chosun Ilbo has a bunch of other articles and editorials on the matter, including "Too Dumb and Too Lazy to Protect and Serve?" An excerpt:

On March 27, around 100 leaflets displaying the face of the criminal were posted in and around the apartment complex, printed by the parents after they heard nothing from the police. It wasn’t until March 29 that a detective from Ilsan Police Station came to investigate the scene of the crime, which had been assigned to him on March 27. The detective is said to have taken a day off on March 28. It was only after the news report on Sunday night that the chief of Ilsan Police Station appointed an investigative team to the case and made a huge ruckus in the process.

At 11 a.m. on March 26, the National Police Agency had announced a comprehensive set of measures to deal with child abductions and missing children. The NPA had made the announcement after mounting criticism over its ineptitude after it took 82 days to catch the criminal who murdered Lee Hye-jin (11) and Wu Ye-seul (9). The murderer was discovered to have been a neighbor. The agency vowed it would create a 1,056-strong special unit handling missing child cases and would swiftly mobilize the maximum number of forces once a report is filed. Less than six hours after that, it was shown up to have been a huge bag of hot air.