A local court has come under fire for showing leniency to a group of high school students charged with gang-raping a girl with a mental disability.

Civic groups said the court went against the public calls for stricter rulings on those who commit sexual assault against the disabled.

On Tuesday, the Daejeon District Court’s Family Division handed down 40 hours of community service and probation to 16 high school students who were accused of raping a 16-year-old girl who is grade 3 mentally disabled.

The defendants reportedly met her through an online chat service and sexually assaulted her in May. Their attacks went on for more than a month. The police as well as prosecutors have requested arrest warrants for the high school seniors, which a court rejected. The bench went a step further in favor of the defendants by postponing the sentence until after they finish their college scholastic ability test.

“The fact that the family members of the victim and the accused have made a settlement outside the court and that the assailants have shown signs of regret may have affected the ruling. The fact that the students have a future ahead of them may have also led to the mild ruling,” a court insider told the Yonhap news agency.

Civic groups denounced the ruling as a setback of the court stance on sex crimes against disabled persons. The recent film “Dogani (Silenced)” triggered public fury toward sexual assault on the disabled, prompting the Supreme Court into guiding lower courts to give up to 15 years in jail for such crimes.

“The court should alarm society with its rulings. However, the leniency gives criminals indulgence and loopholes,” said Lee Won-pyo, an official of the Daejeon Solidarity Against Disability Discrimination. “We are deeply concerned that the ruling may affect other judges. We will fight against the ruling.”

Civic groups held a silent protest in front of the court on the day of the ruling and petitioned with the family court to refer the case to a criminal court.

“Some of the defendants who have showed tears and signs of atonement came out of the court with a smile. The case should be dealt with by a criminal court judge,” the petition wrote.

“We though at least one of the defendants will be sent to a youth detention center,” said Kim Soon-young, head of Differently Abled Women United.

“I don’t know how we can tell disabled women to defend themselves from assaults in the future. This is one of the worst rulings in history,” she added, vowing to continue their struggle not only against the court, but also in education and youth ministries.

By Bae Ji-sook (baejisook@heraldcorp.com)