November 1, 2011
SEOUL (AFP) - A South Korean court Tuesday jailed a US soldier for 10 years for the "sadistic and perverted" rape of a teenager, a case which prompted an apology from a top US diplomat.
The private was sentenced for raping the 18-year-old multiple times at Dongducheon city, which hosts the US Second Infantry Division base and is near the border with North Korea.
"As the accused satisfied his sexual desire in a sadistic and perverted manner for three hours, the victim suffered fear and humiliation," the court said in its judgement quoted by Yonhap news agency.
"The accused should be given stern punishment."
It said the 21-year-old soldier, whose name was not given, entered a low-budget dorm-style room early on September 24 and sexually assaulted and tormented the victim, threatening her with a pair of scissors.
He then robbed her of 5,000 won ($4.50) before running away, said the court in the city of Uijeongbu north of Seoul.
It was the heaviest sentence passed on a US soldier since 1993 when another soldier was jailed for life for the murder of a Korean woman, Yonhap news agency said. That sentence was later commuted to 15 years.
Visiting Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell last month offered an apology to the Korean people for "the tragic and inexcusable rape".
The US military also apologised and imposed a month-long late-night curfew on its troops in the country.
Crimes by the 28,500 US troops based in the South are a sensitive subject, even though many see their presence as necessary to deter a North Korean attack.
Major anti-American protests broke out after a US armoured vehicle killed two schoolgirls in a traffic accident in 2002.
Prosecutors had demanded a 15-year sentence for the soldier.
