Thursday, December 3, 2009

Rapists May Face Real Punishments

A story in The Korea Times says that convicted rapists could face up to 50 years in prison and even face chemical castration.

From the story:

'The government and the ruling party are planning a bill that could put convicted sexual offenders targeting children behind bars for up to 50 years, force them to wear electronic monitors round-the-clock for 30 years after being released and, if necessary, undergo chemical castration.

The bill, which the GNP is seeking to legislate this month, is the latest in a series of efforts aimed at amending the Criminal Law in the wake of a controversial Supreme Court ruling in October that upheld a lighter-than-expected verdict handed down on brutal child rapist, Cho Doo-soon.'

Cho was sentenced to only 12 years in prison after raping a a primary school girl and leaving her with permanent injuries.

In a move of rare logic, the bill is also seeking to remove the statute of limitations and the reduction in sentences when an offender's only excuse is that he drank too much. The Korea Herald had a column on the start of that movement.

The Ministry of Justice (that's so 1984, isn't it?) is hosting a seminar next week with the United States, Britain, France, Japan and Germany to discuss punishment guidelines.

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