Kim, the former director of Saekdongwon, a residential facility for people with severe disabilities in Ganghwa County, Incheon, who is accused of sexually assaulting resident individuals with disabilities, has been detained.

On the 19th, Senior Judge Nam Se-jin, the warrant judge at the Seoul Central District Court, issued a detention warrant for Kim. Judge Nam stated the grounds for detention: “There is a risk of destroying evidence and fleeing.”

The pre-arrest suspect interrogation (warrant review hearing) lasted about one hour and 30 minutes from 10:30 a.m. that day. Kim and employee A did not answer reporters’ questions such as: “Do you admit to the charges of sexual assault and abuse of facility residents?” “What did you explain today?” and “Do you have anything to say to the victims?”

Kim is accused of raping a person with disabilities under his protection under the Act on the Punishment of Sexual Crimes and of assault under the Act on Welfare of Persons with Disabilities, among other charges. The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency is said to have identified six people with severe disabilities whom Kim allegedly raped and recorded them in the arrest warrant application. The six provided detailed statements, and some victims also described the crime scenes. The police have sent body hair found on two victims to the National Forensic Service for analysis.

The number of victims may increase through the investigation. It is reported that the ‘In-depth Survey Report on Residents of the Disability Residential Facility (Saekdongwon) in Ganghwa County, Incheon,’ prepared in December last year by a Woosuk University research team at the request of Ganghwa County, Incheon, contains accounts from a total of 19 women with disabilities who had resided at Saekdongwon that they had been sexually abused by then-director Kim. As of the 30th of last month, 20 victims had been interviewed. The police plan to further investigate the victims for more specific statements and the timing of the offenses.

Employee A at Saekdongwon avoided detention. A is accused of assaulting residents with severe disabilities (violation of the Act on Welfare of Persons with Disabilities). During the arrest warrant review that day, closed-circuit (CCTV) footage purportedly supporting the assault allegations against Kim and A was disclosed. Judge Nam said, “Given that the suspect is acknowledging the facts, the nature of the case and the degree of harm, and that most objective evidence appears to have been collected,” adding, “considering the course of the investigation and attendance, stable residence and family ties, and the lack of a criminal record, it is difficult to recognize the necessity and reasonableness of detention.”

Earlier, the police began a pre-booking inquiry in May last year and conducted a search and seizure at Saekdongwon in September of the same year. It is said the police had difficulty obtaining victim statements from people with developmental disabilities even after commencing compulsory investigations. Subsequently, the police secured last year’s in-depth survey report and launched additional inquiries. On the 31st of last month, a ‘Special Investigation Team on the Saekdongwon Case’ was also formed on the instruction of Prime Minister Kim Min-seok.