• Journal of forensic and investigative science
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.21-29
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• 2007

News from the media on sexual assaults to children committed by natural fathers doesn't attract social attention any more. The number of crimes related to Child Sexual Assault(CSA) is increasing every year in spite of the "Special Act on Prevention of Sexual Assault in Korea". The YoungNam District Sunflower Center for prevention of Child Sexual Assaults(SC-CSA) was established in Daegu, June 2005. The YoungNam District SC-CSA provides forensic evaluation of physical evidence, medical and psychological treatment for the victims less than 13 years of sexual assaults simultaneously. This study carried out 36 cases of CSA by kin reported to YoungNam District SC-CSA, among 180 cases in total until December 2006 since its opening. Most of the victims were girls (32 cases). 28 cases (78%) were indecent assaults (78%) and 8 cases (22%) were rapes. The assailants were overwhelmingly males (35 cases). The assailants of 21 cases (58.3%) were identified as the victims' natural fathers. The incident locations were victim's residence (31 cases, 86.1%) and the victims had been sexually assaulted regularly for many years (25 cases, 69.4%). Considering the above research, we can conclude that CSA committed by kin has specific characteristics. CSA is not a one-time incident, but consistently occurring crime. However, in 22 cases (61.1%), the victim's guardian didn't want to report about it or punish the assailants. As the assailants were natural fathers or relatives of the victims, the other family members probably thought it might be shameful to reveal their wrong doings and would lead to defamation of their family's reputation. The SC-CSA provides the counseling and medical treatment to the victims with the consent of the parents. Due to the guardians' misjudgment, the incident is sometimes not reported to the police. By not reporting the incident to the police, the assailant freely commits other crimes, which multiplies victims. The legal Act of supporting the management of the SC-CSA is still not regulated, so the stability of the SC-CSA is not guaranteed, yet. Even though it is obligatory to report incidents to the police, some cases are still not reported. Currently, there are three SC-CSA centers : in Seoul, in Daegu, and in Gwangju. More centers need to be established to diminish CSA cases in Korea.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.398-408
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• 2015

Carbon monoxide (CO) intoxication, arising from CO from an ignited charcoal briquette (ICB), is a popular means of committing suicide in Korea. Most CO intoxications are related to suicide attempts; however, the possibility of a homicide disguised as a suicide cannot be ruled out. Therefore, forensic investigation of the deceased and the crime scene is crucial to confirm that the deceased committed suicide. Detection of the components of an ICB on the objects suspected of being contacted by the deceased, such as the hands, nostrils, and doorknobs, is essential for linking the crime scene to the victim in the case of suicides by ignited ICBs. The traces from an ICB were analyzed by investigating the morphological characteristics and obtaining elemental compositions. The ICBs were completely different from blackened wood, as detected by discriminant analysis with the elements of carbon and oxygen. We analyzed one case of CO intoxication to demonstrate an excellent procedure for verifying whether a suicide occurred with an ICB. We employed SEM-EDX for the analysis of an ICB, microscope-FT/IR and pyrolysis-GC/MS for a partly burnt resin-type substance, GC/MS for diphenhydramine (a sleeping drug), and GC/TCD for the CO-Hb level. We detected traces of an ICB on the hands, nostrils, and doorknobs, which were all discriminated into an ICB group. Detection of ICB traces from the nostrils could indicate that the deceased started the fire themselves to commit suicide. The partially burnt black material was analyzed as an acrylronitrilestyrene polymer, which is normally used to make bags for carrying or wrapping and could be assumed to have been used to transport the ICB. Diphenhydramine, a sleeping drug, was detected at a level of 2.3 mg/L in the blood, which was lower than that in fatal cases (8-31 mg/L; mean 16 mg/L). A CO-Hb level of 79% was found in the blood, which means that the cause of death was CO intoxication. The steps shown here could represent an ideal method for reaching a verdict of suicide by CO intoxication produced by burning an ICB in a sealed room or a car.