ZCZC
BSP-03
SKOREA-CRIME-SSKATE-KOR
S. Korea court extends prison term for ex-Olympic coach
SEOUL, Jan 30, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – The former coach convicted of physically abusing South Korean double Olympic short-track gold medallist Shim Suk-hee had his prison sentence increased to 18 months on Wednesday.
Cho Jae-beom was initially sentenced to 10 months last year, but the Suwon District Court extended his term after Shim testified at an appeal hearing.
His physical violence began when she was seven and “kept escalating” as she grew older, she said, breaking down in tears as she recalled an occasion she thought she might die as he kicked and punched her.
On the same day, Shim filed a complaint to police accusing him of sexually assaulting her from the age of 17 until January last year, a month before the Pyeongchang Olympics.
The 22-year-old elite athlete has four Olympic medals to her name, including relay golds at both Sochi 2014 and on home ice last year.
South Korea is a regional sporting power and regularly in the top 10 medal table places at the summer and winter Olympics.
But in an already intensely competitive society, winning is everything in its sports community — where coaches hold immense sway over athletes’ careers, and physical and verbal abuse are known to be rife.
South Korea also remains socially conservative and female sex crime victims can face public shaming.
Cho has admitted to beating athletes “to improve their performance”, but denies the sexual assault accusation.
BSS/AFP/AU/09:30 hrs