A South Korean court sentenced a U.S. soldier who broke into an 18 year old South Korean girl’s home and raped her numerous times in a “sadistic fashion” to 10 years in prison. The rape occurred in the area of Dongducheon where the soldier was based. The Solider was a part of the Army’s 2nd Infantry Division.
The private will be required to complete 80 hours of education on sexual violence, and his personal record will be available to the public for the next 10 years. The Republic of Korea had jurisdiction, convicted and sentenced the soldier for his crime and he will now serve his sentence in a Korean prison.
The Army’s 2nd infantry Division has cooperated with the Korean National Police to help bring justice to the victim. The rape occurred in September and is the second attack reported involving U.S. Soldiers. The Division has commented that “Our sincere apologies go out again to the victim, her family and the Korean community.”
To try to contain the recent problems in Korea, the U.S. Forces have reinstated a curfew for the next 30 days. Military officials had rescinded the previous curfew on July 2, 2010. That curfew had been in place for nine years.
Do you think the punishment was enough? (The average sentence in the U.S. for rape is between 8 and 9 years, however, some aggravated rape charges can carry a life sentence).Will it deter other soldiers from committing the same crimes while stationed overseas? Should the sentences be harsher because these men are a representation of the U.S. across the seas? Do you think that the U.S. Forces are doing enough to prevent future occurrences?
CNN Article: http://www.cnn.com/2011/11/01/world/asia/south-korea-soldier-rape/index.html?hpt=wo_c2
I don’t think this individual’s status as an American solider should have any bearing on his punishment. Its not the job of a judicial system to subjectively hand out punishment based on the characteristics of the defendant. Based on this article, I do believe that the punishment was fair. If this is what the Korean court’s felt was appropriate then so be it.
Clearly there is an international relations component to this mess. South Korea is a major ally of ours. Our bases in South Korea allow us to have a military foot print in the Pacific area of operations. But, realistically, I find it difficult to believe that it had any bearing on the outcome of the trial. The South Korean government had no choice but to hold this individual accountable. An unwillingness to prosecute him likely would not have sat well with the South Korean public. Similarly, the American military had no choice but to allow this individual to be prosecuted in light of the charges. Withholding him from prosecution, especially for a crime of this nature, would not have done much for our reputation in South Korea.
We do not know all of the details of the case, but I do not believe that the sentence was enough. From what we do know the rape was done in a “sadistic fashion,” which leads me to believe that it deserves a harsher sentence than other rape crimes. I am not sure that this type of sentence will deter other soldiers from committing the same crime. I also believe that they may be more inclined to commit the rape in a “sadistic fashion” knowing that the sentence will not be harsher for that type of rape. There is also the issue of these U.S. soldiers participating in these acts overseas. I do not think that just because the rapists are from a different country they should be treated any differently; whether that means a lighter sentence or a heavier sentence. All criminal acts in a country should be treated the same no matter where the criminal has citizenship. In terms of what the U.S. forces are doing to prevent these occurrences, I think they are doing all that they can do. No matter what type of restrictions they put in place bad people will always find a way to do bad things.