Man with sex crime record gets 10 months for trying to lure 12-year-old with burgers

A man in his 50s with a prior sex crime record who approached an elementary school student on her way home and tried to take her somewhere has had his prison sentence upheld on appeal.

The First Criminal Division of the Gwangju High Court's Jeonju bench, presided over by Chief Judge Jeong Mun-gyeong, dismissed appeals by both the defendant and the prosecution on Wednesday, upholding the original 10-month prison sentence handed to A (55), who was indicted on charges of attempted enticement of a minor, Yonhap reported.

The court also ordered him to wear an electronic ankle bracelet for five years to prevent reoffending.

The appeals court noted that the defendant claimed he had not recognized the victim as a minor, but said closed-circuit television footage showed he remained at the scene even after she refused his offer to accompany him.

"The defendant's behavior appears to go beyond simple goodwill toward the victim," the court said, adding that the original guilty verdict was justified because he appeared to have intended to lure a minor at the time.

A was indicted on charges of attempting to lure B (12), a girl walking home from school, at an apartment complex in Deokjin-gu, Jeonju, on the afternoon of Jan. 16, by offering to buy her hamburgers and pizza if she went with him.

B refused the stranger's offer, and A's attempt failed.

A denied the charges in court, saying he had only spoken to B and had not tried to lure her. The court rejected his account in light of his prior sex crime convictions involving minors.

At the final appeals hearing on Sept. 2, the prosecution asked the court to impose a three-year prison term, the same sentence it had sought at trial.

The defense countered that A, who has no family, had merely spoken to the victim out of loneliness and had no intention of luring her.

In his final statement, A insisted he had never lied. "I had gone there to exercise without my glasses and only made a polite joke to the victim," he said. "I am not well. Please rule fairly."

A also denied knowing B was an elementary school student. The trial court had similarly rejected his account given his prior sex crime convictions involving minors, sentencing him to 10 months in prison and ordering him to wear an electronic ankle bracelet for five years.