Incident of Sexual Assault by a Temporary Teacher at an Elementary School in Gangwon Reveals Additional Victims

As investigations continue into a temporary teacher's alleged sexual assault of a student at an elementary school in Gangwon Province, additional victimizations have emerged, raising controversy over the school's delayed response.

According to a report by Yonhap News on the 8th, Mr. A, who served as a substitute for a teacher on parental leave at an elementary school in Gangwon Province from October of last year to January of this year, has been referred to prosecutors for allegedly committing inappropriate physical contact with student B on ten occasions (under the Sexual Violence Punishment Act for forcible sexual assault against minors under 13 years of age) last month.

After his contract ended, in February and March, Mr. A continued to send private messages to B, saying things like, "Let me know if you want to see me," and "Do you want to meet for a moment?" In early March, he attempted to meet B but was caught by her parents.

Inadequate Initial Response from the School and Allegations of Concealment of Additional Victims

The day after Mr. A was caught, B’s parents immediately informed the school of the victimization, and the school reported the incident to the police. However, the situation escalated when B revealed that "another student was also assaulted by Mr. A."

At the end of May, B's parents informed the school once again, using messages exchanged with other parents as evidence of additional victim cases.

Despite this, the school did not request further investigation from the police, citing that no additional victims were identified in a survey conducted in early March. This passive response from the school drew criticism as the incident gained public attention through local online communities.

Faced with ongoing protests from parents, the school belatedly conducted a second anonymous survey, revealing the shocking fact that 13 students claimed to have experienced or witnessed sexual assault by Mr. A.

B’s mother stated, "He was known as a perverted teacher among the children, and it is absurd that the school was unaware of this. I have repeatedly informed the school about the possibility of additional victims, but their inaction is unacceptable."

She reported the matter to the Gangwon Provincial Office of Education, but the office stated, "Temporary teachers are hired by the school principal, so the education office cannot take any actions apart from contract termination."

The principal of the elementary school sent a text message to parents the day before, stating, "There was no intention to evade or conceal the reports," and admitted, "We should have observed and investigated more thoroughly, but there were shortcomings." He also promised to conduct a real-name survey again, provide sexual harassment prevention training, and offer counseling and psychological support to the victims.

The Gangwon police plan to conduct further investigations into Mr. A based on the survey data submitted by the school.

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