A 20-year-old who targeted a high school classmate with an intellectual disability for extortion and detained her for more than a fortnight has been sentenced to prison.

The court sentenced him to prison for the indiscriminate assault and impersonal cruelty of the crime, which he did not use all kinds of methods to extort money, saying that he had "no sense of guilt, and that the violence and cruelty were more serious than in ordinary cases."

The Chuncheon District Court's Gangneung Jiwon sentenced 9-year-old A to four years and six months in prison, while accomplices B and C, who are the same age, were sentenced to three years and six months in prison and three years in prison, respectively.

Mr. A and others are accused of detaining and assaulting their high school classmate, 22-year-old Mr. D, and ripping off about 4 million won while traveling between East Sea, Gangneung, Pyeongtaek, and Ansan between September 6 and October 3 last year.

They stole the money through various schemes, such as ripping off the rental car money used in the crime, opening and intercepting a new mobile phone, and making multiple micropayments on the victim's mobile phone.

They also engaged in car accident insurance fraud East Sea victims.

The investigation revealed that they assaulted Mr. D, who was intellectually disabled, to the point of fainting, and the abuse caused injuries such as broken ribs and concussion that required hospital treatment for about six weeks.

The court noted that "although Mr. A had no special acquaintance with the victim, the defendants' conduct appears to be beyond the comprehension of ordinary common sense, and he did not even have any sense of guilt."

"The crime of the crime and the violence and cruelty of the defendants revealed in the process, such as the victim reluctantly releasing her when she learned that she had been reported as a runaway to the police, but attempting to commit insurance fraud until the last minute, is serious compared to ordinary cases."

The court ruled that "the victim suffered injuries such as fractures and suffered life-threatening fear and trauma," and that "severe punishment of the defendants is inevitable in view of the fact that the damage appears to require a long time to recover."

(Photo = Courtesy of Yonhap News TV, Yonhap News)