“Father Committed Sexual Violence Since I Was 7” Sex Offender Father Blames Wife and Daughter Even in Prison Letter
The January 23rd broadcast of MBC’s “True Story Expedition” aired a story titled “Please Catch My Sex Offender Dad”.
The episode unveiled a case where a woman lost her normal life due to her sex offender father. Lee Ji-ae (pseudonym) shared, “I maintained a common-law marriage with my husband, Ko Jun-beom (pseudonym), for 13 years. After that, I raised our two children on my own.” She explained that they had separated at the end of 2018. She said, “I met him when I was 18. We are 15 years apart. I got pregnant with our first child within a month of meeting him, so we started living together.” Despite Ji-ae’s pregnancy, her husband went to meet potential marriage candidates and began assaulting her after she gave birth. The abuse escalated to the point where he even threw their newborn baby.
The violence was severe enough that Ji-ae required hospital treatment. She confessed, “At that time, I was scared of disobeying my husband. When I didn’t know anything, I was terrified of being abandoned.” However, even their eldest son was subjected to abuse starting at the age of five. The son recounted, “He punched me in the face, and once, he hit me in the solar plexus so hard that I passed out.“
Ji-ae admitted, “I couldn’t have imagined he would do the same to our daughter. When I found out, I wanted to kill him.” In July last year, her daughter first opened up about her father. The daughter revealed that she had been sexually abused by her father. Ji-ae immediately reported it to the Sunflower Center. Her daughter shared, “I came to report that my dad sexually assaulted me. It happened when I was around 7~8 years old.” Hearing this, Seo In expressed anger, “How could anyone do such a thing unless they’re insane?” Park Ji-hoon added, “Is he even human?“
The daughter said tearfully, “I was afraid to tell my mom because my dad would know it was me, and I didn’t think I could talk about it with my brother. If my dad hadn’t done those things, I could have lived a normal life.“
Ji-ae explained, “In our neighborhood, people would say, ‘There’s no father like him.’ Everything was for show.” She added that her husband was a researcher at a large corporation and had graduated from K University and S University’s graduate program. Ko Jun-beom had also been the head of a book discussion club and participated in human rights and animal rights activism. Seo In expressed disbelief, “He committed crimes at home while pretending to advocate for human rights outside?” Ji Jin-hee added, “Watching this makes me furious. It’s hard to believe he not only abused his wife and son but also molested his 7-year-old daughter.”
Since 2023, Ko Jun-beom has not returned from the Philippines, causing delays in the investigation. At the age of 51, he enrolled in a pharmacy school in the Philippines and was spotted associating closely with a local woman 30 years younger than him. Ko Jun-beom disappeared on December 23rd, 2024 after saying he would return to Korea, and later it was reported that he was in prison.
Ko Jun-beom was indicted and detained for investigation on charges of forced molestation of a minor under familial relations, a case reported by Ji-ae in July 2024. In a letter to his daughter, Ko Jun-beom wrote, “I think I did something crazy because the relationship between your mom and me was so bad.” Professor Lim Myung-ho criticized him, “This is a classic case of deflecting responsibility. It’s extremely cowardly.“
Ahead of the trial scheduled for next month, Ji-ae expressed her concerns, “It’s a case of forcible molestation within the family, but legally, it might not be recognized as a crime.” On the official family registry, the father’s name is absent as her husband had forced her to maintain single-parent benefits. Ji-ae revealed, “He even told me to undergo an investigation to prove that the second child was from another man.” Ko Jun-beom owns real estate, including an apartment and an officetel in Gyeonggi Province, while his parents’ verified assets amount to over 3 billion won. His parents are pressuring Ji-ae’s children to settle the case by offering financial conditions.
