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Some articles written about the true story


Deaf School Teachers Face Firing Over Sex Abuse Scandal
The Gwangju Metropolitan Office of Education has demanded that a notorious school for hearing-impaired students either fire or suspend six out of 20 teachers over a sexual abuse scandal that has incensed the nation.

Four out of the six teachers at the Gwangju Inhwa School for whom serious punishment was recommended by the education authority were reinstated after they escaped punishment under the statute of limitations.

The sex crimes committed by teachers against vulnerable students inspired Gong Ji-young to write the novel "The Crucible," which was adapted into a film of the same title that led to the case being reopened six years after it was closed. Most of the crimes took place around 2001.

http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2011/10/04/2011100401157. html

Gwangju City will officially shut down the so-called “Dogani” school for the disabled today, roughly two months after a film based on events there sparked public furor over teachers’ sexual assaults against students at the regional school.

The education office in the southwestern city said Monday it has notified Wuseok, a social welfare foundation that owns and operates the Gwangju Inhwa School, of its plan to cancel its license on Nov. 14.

“Gwangju Inwha School will be formally closed on Nov. 1 for abuses of students and failing to fulfill its duties and responsibilities as a social welfare school,” a city spokesman said.

“The 57 disabled students who had been protected and educated by the school will be transferred to other schools in adjacent areas.”

The measures came after the film “The Crucible,” titled “Dogani” in Korean, based on the true story of sexual assaults by teachers at the school, caused public outrage.

Some teachers were found to have raped or sexually harassed hearing-impaired students between 2000 and 2005, but they were penalized lightly and some of them were still working at the school.

A few weeks ago, the city and the education office held a hearing to shed new light on what happened in the school. School managers and owners of the foundation were told to attend the hearing, but didn’t do so.

However, the actual shutdown of the school may take longer as lawyers for the Wuseok Foundation said it will take legal action to nullify the measures.

City officials said they are collecting all evidence to prove the school’s illegalities in preparation for a possible lawsuit against the decision to close the school.

“We will make all preparations not to lose the suit,” a city official said.

Police are currently investigating claims by former students and school officials that there have been numerous sexual abuse cases in the school for the past decades. Some even alleged that some students without families were killed at the school and were buried on a nearby mountain secretly.

In early October, police formed a special investigation team to look into any hidden irregularities at the school.

The education office in Gwangju has taken administrative measures against the teachers who were engaged in the scandal, suspending their jobs or canceling their teaching licenses.

Other teachers at the school, who had nothing to do with the case, will be re-hired, the office said.

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2011/10/113_97714.html

Gwangju school sex offender gets 12 years in prison
A faculty member at a school for hearing-impaired students was sentenced to 12 years in prison for raping a disabled student, court officials here said Thursday.

The Gwangju District Court sentenced the 63-year-old former administrator of Gwangju Inhwa School in Gwangju, about 330 kilometers south of Seoul, to 12 years in prison for sexually assaulting an 18-year-old student in April 2005. The administrator, only identified by his surname Kim, was also ordered to wear an electronic anklet for 10 years following his release.

The penalty, much heavier than the seven-year sentence prosecutors sought for Kim, comes as a local box-office hit, "Dogani," whose English title is "The Crucible," has sparked widespread public outrage.

The film vividly depicts the story of Gwangju Inhwa School teachers and staff who committed repeated sex crimes against a number of students over five years from 2000.

Police launched a re-examination of the assaults and arrested teachers and employees, including Kim.

"There are growing calls to beef up punishment for perpetrators of sexual abuses against disabled people," the court said.

Also, Kim was charged with physically abusing another 17-year-old student who had witnessed the crime. The victim reportedly attempted to commit suicide afterward. (Yonhap)

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2012/07/117_114513.html

Also, the wiki page for the movie (where I found the articles):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Crucible_(2011_film)



I'm reaching for the life within me. How can one man stop his ending. ~ Blue October

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Thank you for posting this. I just wathced the movie and felt sick at the events portrayed. This restores a minute sense of hope that justice will eventually be served.

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Apparently it got even worse: "GNP calls for investigation into ‘The Crucible’ author Gong Ji-young". Some of the GNP politicians calling for the investigation were also involved in the initial cover up. They were pretty much laughed out of town, and according to some Korean blogs his election bid failed, mainly due to that blunder.

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Thanks.

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