Supreme Court orders life sentence for man convicted of raping, killing 20-month-old baby

By Kim Han-joo

SEOUL, May 27 (Yonhap) -- The Supreme Court on Friday sentenced a man to life in prison for sexually assaulting and killing a 20-month-old baby girl.

The verdict raised a lower court's 30-year prison term for the 30-year-old man, identified only by his surname Yang, charged with raping and killing the baby daughter of his live-in girlfriend in June last year.

"It is right to separate the defendant from society forever, given the cruelty of his crime," the court said.

The court also ordered that he be banned from working at child-related facilities for 10 years, wear a tracking device for 20 years and undergo 200 hours of a child abuse treatment program.

It, however, rejected the prosecution's requests for chemical castration treatment for him and disclosure of his identity.

Yang was convicted of killing the baby by covering her with a blanket, and punching and stomping on her for about an hour while drunk at his home in Daejeon, about 165 kilometers south of Seoul, because she did not stop crying.

He was also convicted of raping the toddler before beating her to death.

Yang and his girlfriend, surnamed Jeong, hid the victim's body in an ice box in their bathroom.

Overturning a lower court's 1 1/2-year imprisonment ruling, the court sentenced Jeong to three years in prison.

khj@yna.co.kr
(END)