South Korea jails disabled care home head for sexually assaulting residents

What the report says

A South Korean court has sentenced the former head of a disabled care home to 15 years in prison for sexually assaulting residents, in a case that has drawn national outrage. The man, identified only by his surname Kim, was convicted over abuse involving three residents at the Saekdongwon facility in Incheon, west of Seoul, according to BBC World News.

Police opened the investigation after one victim, a woman with a severe intellectual disability, reported the abuse in February last year. BBC World News reported that the case has since prompted wider scrutiny of care homes for people with disabilities. The government inspected 1,507 facilities nationwide and found 33 suspected abuse cases.

The affair has also raised questions in South Korea about how the alleged conduct went undetected for so long, despite strengthened protections for people with disabilities introduced in 2011, BBC World News said. Prime Minister Kim Min-seok described the abuse as a serious failure of the state, while local officials have ordered Saekdongwon to close and revoked the licence of the foundation that ran it.

The closure has been delayed until remaining residents are relocated and independent living arrangements are made. The operating foundation has filed a lawsuit challenging the licence revocation. BBC World News also reported that a county assessment suggested as many as 20 current and former female residents may have experienced sexual abuse.