Sentences Suspended for Two Teenage Girls Who Waterboarded Peer, Burned Her With Cigarette, and Distributed Sexually Exploitative Material Finalized

Victim Suffered Spinal Sprain and Second-Degree Burns

Court Orders Probation and Sexual Violence Treatment Lectures

Court: "Serious Offense, but Remorse and Potential for Reform Considered"

The suspended prison sentences handed down to two teenage girls, who subjected a peer to water torture and burned her with a lit cigarette before producing and distributing sexually exploitative material of other victims, have been finalized without change.

School violence illustration.

According to the legal community on September 6, the Criminal Division 1 of the Namyangju Branch of the Uijeongbu District Court (Presiding Judge Kim Guk-sik) sentenced defendant A (age 19), indicted on charges including joint assault, aggravated intimidation, coercion, and violation of the Act on the Protection of Children and Youth from Sexual Offenses, to 1 year and 6 months in prison, suspended for 3 years, on August 20. Co-defendant B (age 16) was sentenced to 1 year in prison, suspended for 2 years.

The court also ordered both to undergo probation, complete 40 hours of community service, and take 40 hours of sexual violence treatment lectures. They were prohibited from working at institutions related to children, youth, or persons with disabilities for three years.

Defendants A and B were brought to trial on charges of forcing their peer, C, into a bathtub and continuously pouring water on her while physically assaulting her at a residence in Namyangju, Gyeonggi Province on September 18, 2024. Investigations revealed that the crime stemmed from the belief that C was responsible for their acquaintance being assaulted by someone else.

A threatened C with a weapon and forced her into the bathtub, while B beat C, who tried to get out, with a plastic bottle and a wooden spatula. The two forced C into a moving box, kicked her, and burned her body with a lit cigarette. A also forced C to consume an entire tube of toothpaste and a bottle of plum extract. As a result, C suffered a spinal sprain and second-degree burns to her face and other areas.

Further investigation revealed that the defendants also committed assault and sexual offenses against other victims. On September 9 of the same year, A was charged with repeatedly slapping another female student and shaking her by the hair on the rooftop of a building in Namyangju.

On September 23, A forced a victim to undress as punishment while drinking with peers in a studio apartment in Seoul, filmed the act with a mobile phone, and B received the footage, stored it, and distributed it in a group chat involving several people.

The court stated that "the circumstances, details, and methods of the crime indicate its serious nature." However, it considered several factors in sentencing: both defendants acknowledged their wrongdoing and showed remorse; settlements had been reached with some victims; both were still in the process of character development with potential for behavioral improvement and reformation; and neither had any prior juvenile protection measures or criminal convictions.

After sentencing, neither the prosecution nor defendants A and B appealed, and with the expiration of the appeal period, the verdict from the initial trial was finalized.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.