Safety tips from a convicted sex offender

A convicted sex offender who is incarcerated at North Gyeongsang North Prison (formerly Cheongsong Prison) sent a letter to a police officer several says ago. The letter was entitled “How to stay safe from sex crimes.” The inmate claimed that he wrote the letter in the hope that no more people will fall victim to sexual predators in the wake of a rash of sex crimes nationwide. "Women should not use the automatic lock button for their cars from a long distance,” he said. For a woman to open the door of her car with a beeping sound from a distance is like inviting a sex offender to target her, he added. A would-be assailant hangs around the car, and the moment a woman gets in the car, the attacker can opens the passenger side door and threaten her with a knife. “This is a secret method that two- and three-time convicted sex offenders commonly use,” he said.

The prisoner also gave advice on coping when facing a sex offender. If a woman is somewhere that the sex offender cannot reach with his hands, she should run away by shouting for help, he said, adding, “Offenders don’t chase a woman when surrounded by people because they have lots of targets everywhere.” If a woman is at a sex offender`s mercy, he said, she should seek a chance to escape and avoid angering or offending the perpetrator. “A sex offender will seek to commit crimes repeatedly, he will never take too big a risk,” he said.

Goh Jong-seok, who kidnapped and raped a 7-year-old girl, also cleverly prepared to commit the crime. Asked why he entered his victim’s house and kidnapped her by prosecutors, he said, “It was safer for me that way.” When spotted, he planned to use the excuse of “I`m here to say hi to your child” since he was close to the girl’s parents. Seo Jin-hwan, who killed a housewife while attempting to rape her 13 days after sexually assaulting another woman despite wearing an electronic monitoring anklet, committed the crimes within 2-kilometer radius of his residence. He was well aware that he would be closely scrutinized if he, as an ex-criminal, violated that radius.

Police have beefed up random checks on people, pledging to prevent violent crimes. Patrol cars, with their light bars flashing, were seen parked with the sign “Police checkpoint” at entrances to several subway stations in Seoul over the weekend. Violent criminals can see the checkpoints from afar and avoid the areas. Police have explained in detail the targets and locations of random checks due to fears over human rights violations. Law enforcement authorities, however, are effectively creating problems after providing answers. Gwak Gwang-seop, who raped a 20-something woman in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, committed the deed while police were staging a campaign to fight crime. As women cannot afford to rely on police alone to stay safe, they might want to listen to tips from a convicted sex offender in prison to stay safe.

City Desk Reporter Shin Gwang-yeong (neo@donga.com)