▲ Gwangju District Court
A man who broke into a shop in the middle of the night, sexually assaulted the female owner, and committed robbery has been punished 17 years after the crime.
According to the legal community, the Gwangju District Court Criminal Agreement Division 11 (Presiding Judge Kim Song-hyun) sentenced a 51-year-old man surnamed Jeong, who was indicted on charges including special robbery and rape, to 7 years and 6 months in prison.
Jeong was brought to trial on charges of breaking into a store in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province, around 3:00 a.m. on April 21, 2009, sexually assaulting the female owner, and stealing 300,000 won in cash.
At the time, Jeong meticulously evaded the police investigation. He was later caught for repeated theft crimes and received a suspended sentence of 1 year and 6 months in prison with 3 years of probation in March 2016.
Subsequently, investigative authorities identified Jeong while cross-referencing the DNA of the suspect from the 2009 cold case with the newly registered DNA database of violent criminals.
The prosecution, which had placed Jeong on the wanted list, located and arrested him this past March.
During the trial, Jeong admitted to all the charges.
(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.