[단독] Disabled rights activist molested women with disabilities… “Sexual harassment continued for 6 years”

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A human rights activist for the disabled who has appeared on TV several times saying that he has lived a life for the developmentally disabled is being investigated by the police on charges of sexually harassing a woman with a disability.

The victim claims that Lee had been sexually harassed for nearly six years.

Reporter Jeong Eun-ju covered the story.

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[2018년 10월 부산MBC 다큐멘터리]

“He has lived a life for people with developmental disabilities.”

The father of a son with developmental disabilities, who appeared on TV several times, is being investigated by the police on charges of sexually harassing a woman with severe brain lesion 1st degree.

Lee is accused of sexually harassing the late 27-year-old victim more than 15 times at the farmhouse for the elimination of discrimination against the disabled held in Busan for 42 days from April 2019.

At that time, Mr. Lee, who was the representative of a group for the disabled in Busan, frequently ran into Mr. Ko, the victim, who was in charge of the agricultural development.

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“I do it on my ears (the act of kissing my lips). I also do it on my cheeks and neck, and that person has a lot of beard. It was so unpleasant.”

The harassment mainly took place in tents and continued at outdoor events and conference halls.

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“I was forced to witness the dark and hardened (victim’s) face. The face being dragged to the slaughterhouse…”

However, Ko claimed that Lee’s sexual harassment continued for nearly six years from 2014.

At that time, Mr. Lee was running as a member of a local government as a member of a progressive party, but he started sexually molesting Mr. Ko, who was an election campaigner.

As an activist for the disabled, Ko was known to have been reluctant to report because of Lee’s influence and fear of secondary harm.

Lee, widely known as a human rights activist for the disabled, is a nuclear disarmament activist who led a lawsuit stating that the cause of thyroid cancer was the Kori nuclear power plant, and is still the chairperson of the human rights committee of a local government in Busan.

In relation to the sexual harassment allegations, Lee told reporters, “In 2019, while hugging the victim several times, he may have touched him physically.”

This is Jung Eun-joo from MBC News.

Video coverage: Kim Kang-hyun VJ / Busan

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