The prosecution also sentenced Cho Doo-soon to two years in prison in the appeal trial for violating the night-time outing restriction order and leaving his residence without permission. Previously, the first trial sentenced Cho Doo-soon, a child sex offender who damaged an electronic device (electronic anklet) while leaving his residence, to eight months in prison and ordered him to undergo treatment and custody for neurocognitive disorder. The appeal decision will be made on June 17th.
At the trial to decide on the appeal of Cho Doo-soon’s case, including violation of the Act on Attaching Electronic Devices, held on the 24th by Suwon High Court’s Criminal Division 1 (High Court Judge Shin Hyun-il), the prosecutor asked the court to sentence him to the same two-year prison term as the original sentence, saying, “The defendant already has a history of the same type of crime and the risk of reoffending is high.”
The reason for the sentence was stated, “The original sentence was excessive (light) because he repeated the crime without reflection during the period of repeated offenses.”
In his final argument, the defense lawyer emphasized that Cho Doo-soon’s ability to distinguish objects was reduced due to health problems. “The reason the defendant left the residence was to throw away trash before his spouse came home from work, and he went to the second and third floors of the building’s staircase because he did not remember or was looking for lost cash and immediately returned to the residence,” he claimed.
He appealed for leniency, saying, “Currently, the ability to discriminate between objects and make decisions is significantly weak.”
Cho Doo-soon rambled on to the judge who gave him the opportunity to speak, saying, “I have a lot of things I want to say, but don’t you hate it when I talk too long? My wife keeps leaving the house.”
When asked by the judge, “Does anyone come to visit?” he answered, “My wife comes often.”
Cho Doo-soon is accused of violating the ‘order to restrict going out during school hours’ four times by leaving his residence in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province, from March to June of last year. In addition to violating the going-out restrictions, he is also accused of intentionally damaging an electronic location tracking device inside the house.
Cho Doo-soon was released in December 2020 after serving 12 years in prison on charges of kidnapping and sexually assaulting and seriously injuring an elementary school student in 2008. Then, in December 2023, he served three months in prison for violating an order prohibiting going out at night.
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