(ATTN: UPDATES with court ruling from 7th para; CHANGES photo)
SEOUL, Feb. 21 (Yonhap) -- A Seoul court on Wednesday meted out a death sentence for a man charged with killing a school friend of his daughter after sexually molesting her.
The Seoul Northern District Court handed down the gravest possible punishment on Lee Young-hak, 36, who had confessed to choking a 14-year-old girl to death in his home last September after committing lewd acts on her body while she was drugged.
Prosecutors had demanded the death penalty.
The court sentenced his daughter, whose identity was not revealed, to four years in prison for luring the friend to the house and helping her father dump her body. But her sentence can be extended up to six years in case of an infraction during her four-year imprisonment.
The killing shocked the nation as Lee was publicly known after appearing on a TV show in the 2000s, which portrayed him as a poor man suffering from a rare dental disease while trying to eke out a living with a daughter who had the same incurable illness.
Lee earned the nickname of "molar father" after losing all but one molar while treating the disease.
"It is even hard to imagine the pain that the victim would have gone through," the court said in its ruling. "The court therefore delivers the sentence to the defendant in the name of the rule of law and justice, having taken all situations into account."
The court rebuked him for a crime that "has brought about an irreversible and miserable consequence that cannot be condoned through any punishment."
The court berated Lee for not showing any regret or remorse, saying his demeanor shows he is unlikely to reform but will rather relapse into committing other similar -- or even worse -- crimes.
Lee was also indicted for working as his wife's pimp and forcing her to have sex with at least a dozen men. He also beat her and filmed her and the men on tapes. His wife took her own life in September.
The defendant faced fraud charges as well for raising 940 million won (US$873,000) through a fundraising campaign for his daughter's treatment and spending the money for himself.
It turned out that Lee had actually been living a luxurious life off government allowances and donations he received from those who took pity on him after seeing him on the TV show.
elly@yna.co.kr
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