Taxi Driver with History of Sexual Offenses on Trial for Assaulting Female Passenger: Impact on Passenger Safety and Legal Regulations

2023-12-17 03:00:43

A taxi driver with a history of two sexual offenses was put on trial on charges of sexually assaulting a female college student who was a customer while maintaining his driver’s license.

The Women and Children Crimes Investigation Department of the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office arrested and indicted a 61-year-old taxi driver on charges of taking a drunk female college student to a motel and sexually assaulting her when she boarded his taxi in Mapo-gu, Seoul, in the early morning of the 4th of last month.

The taxi driver stated that he fell asleep on the sofa following dropping off the drunk female college student at a motel, but the prosecution analyzed CCTV and found the charge of sexual assault acceptable.

The taxi driver was sentenced to three years in prison in 2006 for his first sex crime, sexually assaulting a female passenger in her 20s, and was also sentenced to a fine for his second sex crime, forcible harassment, in 2021 following his release from prison.

The current Passenger Transport Service Act was revised in 2012 to prohibit sex offenders sentenced to prison from becoming taxi drivers for 20 years following release, but the taxi driver’s qualifications were not revoked as he served his sentence before the law was revised for his first sex crime.

The second sexual offense was also only punished with a fine, and the taxi driver was able to maintain his driver qualifications without being sanctioned.

A prosecution official said, “Due to the nature of taxis, which are highly airtight means of transportation, there is a high risk of recidivism if a sex offender is licensed as a driver.” He added, “There is a need to improve the system, such as including ‘taxi drivers’ in the list of ‘employment restriction orders’ that can be issued when convicted of a sex crime.” “It is necessary,” he pointed out.

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