Mr. A, in his 50s, who was arrested and handed over to the prosecutor's office on suspicion of taking a missing elementary school student after leaving his home in Chuncheon, Gangwon, was found to have committed two similar crimes last year.

In July last year, Miss B, a junior high school student living in Siheung, Gyeonggi-do, approached her through social networking services (SNS) and lured her to a warehouse building in Sotae-myeon, Chungju City, where she lived alone.

After receiving a report from her parents that Miss B was not entering the house, the police found Miss B alone at Miss A's residence two hours after her disappearance through mobile phone communication location checks.

Miss B reportedly told police that she had travelled to Chungju on her own and that there was no damage.

Based on the fact that Miss B had been alone in the warehouse all along, the police determined that there was no criminal charge against Miss A, so they handed Miss B over to her parents and closed the case without further investigation.

Then, in early November last year, Mr. A approached Miss C, another junior high school student in Hoengseong, Gangwon, using the same tactic and lured her to the same warehouse building.

After finding Miss C at Miss A's residence, the police arrested Miss A on the spot on suspicion of violating the Missing Children Act.

At that time, the police decided that it was difficult to apply for an arrest warrant only for violating the Missing Children Act, so they released Miss A and investigated him without detention, and after discovering additional crimes, they handed over the case to the Chuncheonji Public Prosecutor's Office in February.

A few days later, on the 7th of the same month, Miss A approached 2-year-old Miss D using a similar method and was arrested after holding her for five days from the 11th without reporting her to the police station.

It was confirmed that Miss A contacted Miss D to meet her in Seoul and then drove Miss D to Chungju in her own vehicle.

Mr. A was eventually arrested and handed over to the Chuncheonji prosecutor on 2 March, and the district prosecutor is expected to combine the two cases into one and prosecute them soon.