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SEOUL, Jan. 30 (Yonhap) -- Prosecutors demanded the death sentence Tuesday for a man charged with killing a school friend of his teenage daughter after sexually molesting her.
Lee Young-hak, 35, has confessed to killing the 14-year-old girl in late September after drugging her to sleep and committing lewd acts on her body, with sex toys, to satisfy his sexual desire.
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 the "molar father" after losing all but one molar while treating the disease.
However, it turned out that Lee had actually been living a luxurious life off donations he received from those who took pity on him after seeing him on the TV show, as well as government allowances.
"We have to make a decision in order to prevent greater damage and establish faith and justice in our society," a prosecutor said while demanding capital punishment for Lee.
Lee's lawyer called for leniency, saying Lee is deeply repentant about what he did.
Lee offered an apology.
"I'm so sorry. I will cry and pray for the student (victim) for the rest of my life," he said in his final statement. Lee also called for leniency for his daughter, who is charged with luring the victim to her home and helping her father dispose of the body.
"Please put this foolish father to death and forgive my daughter," he said.
Lee, however, claimed that prosecutors had threatened to beat him and verbally abused him during the investigation. He demanded that CCTV footage of the investigation be disclosed and the prosecutors in question be held responsible.
Lee's daughter was sentenced to four years in prison, but that could be extended to up to seven years, depending on how she behaves during the four years.
The sentencing hearing for Lee is set for Feb. 21.
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