South Korean court orders first ‘chemical castration’ of pedophile

By Park Sae-jin Posted : April 26, 2013, 10:01 Updated : April 26, 2013, 10:01
A district court in Seoul, sentencing a 31-year-old man to 15 years of imprisonment, ordered on Jan. 3 that he undergo three-year hormonal treatment.

It was the first time that a South Korean court has given such a hormonal penalty to a pedophile since the parliamentary approval of a bill last July that allows a court to order “chemical castration” for convicted child molesters aged 19 or more. The bill is designed to prevent sex offenders from repeating their crimes against minors aged 16 or under.

Pyo was charged with having sex with five teenagers whom he met through smartphone chatting in 2011 and 2012, threatening to distribute video footage of them engaged in sexual acts and pictures of the naked victims online, and raping them after threatening them with a deadly weapon.

In the ruling, the court said it is impossible for Pyo to suppress sexual impulse by himself as the pedophile with a distorted sexual awareness has excessive sexual desire.

The court also ordered that Pyo wear an electronic anklet for 20 years after the end of his prison term and that information on the sexual offender be made available for public access for 10 years.

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