Most teen sex offenders get away with slap on wrist

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Out of over 3,000 juvenile offenders who were found guilty of sex offenses and placed under juvenile law protection, only 143 were sent to juvenile detention centers, a report showed Friday.

According to the Supreme Court's judicial yearbook, a total of 3,701 juveniles were tried for sex crimes out of the 50,094 juvenile protection cases filed last year. Among them, 2,963 were placed under probation after judges found them guilty.

When one under age 19 commits a crime, law enforcement agencies can either prosecute or not prosecute and send the case to the Juvenile Department. The case is then tried in the juvenile division of the district or family court as a juvenile protection case.

Only 143, or 4.8 percent of the total perpetrators, received tough dispositions of Level 8, 9, or 10. The disposition scale ranges from 1-10, and levels 8-10 correspond to punishments from one month to two years in juvenile detention.

Five people were sent to juvenile detention for rape, six for indecent assault, 52 for violating the Sexual Violence Punishment Act, and 80 for violating the Child and Adolescent Sexual Protection Act.

On the other hand, 1,794 people, or 60.5 percent of the juvenile perpetrators, were sentenced to less serious dispositions such as court-ordered consignment of custody to guardians or community services.

Among them, 16 committed rape, 155 were responsible for indecent assaults, 1,164 violated the Sexual Violence Punishment Act, and 459 breached the Child and Adolescent Sexual Protection Act.

The number of juvenile protection cases has been on the rise, and the number of cases last year increased by 16.4 percent from the previous year.

By Choi Jeong-yoon(jychoi@heraldcorp.com)