Victim’s Filing Claim No Longer Required

On September 6, 2002, Youth Protection Commission (Commissioner, Lee Seung-hee) announced that it would introduce a bill to Congress. The bill, a new version of Protection of Youth Against Sexual Offenses Act, would not require victim’s filing a claim in order to prosecute a sexual offender.

The commission’s spokesperson contended, “Teens are not mature and lack the ability to make decisions on their own. Thus, it is not reasonable for them to file first before taking any legal actions on the prosecutors’ side. By eliminating the filing requirement for prosecution of sexual crimes against teens, the authorities should actively involve themselves in prosecution.”

If the requirement should be eliminated, prosecutors would not have to wait for victims’ filing to prosecute sexual crimes against teens.

Under the current law, only sexual crimes against teens less than 13 are statutory.

It has been the center of heated debate whether or not sexual crimes against teens are statutory. The Supreme Court held that, unless specifically provided by the law, the crimes need victims’ filing a claim in prosecution thereof.

But the commission and other civil rights organizations for the young have argued that sexual crimes against teens and against adults are totally different in nature, and thus the government should eliminate the requirement and involve itself aggressively in prosecution of the former.

The commission’s bill would also prohibit those convicted of sexual crimes against teens from taking jobs such as teachers for certain period of time.

In addition, it would make it possible to prosecute even non-profit distribution of obscene materials to the youth, and mandate notices to parents or a guardian if a teen is arrested for prostitution.

The commission will hold a public hearing on September 13 and, after inter-agency discussions, will introduce the bill in November.

Hyo-Lim Son aryssong@donga.com