SEOUL, Nov. 10 (Yonhap) -- Police have uncovered dozens of convicted sex offenders working at schools and other educational facilities for minors in violation of a law banning their employment at such places, officials said Thursday.

   Under the law, those convicted of sex crimes and sentenced to a minimum punishment of a fine are banned from working at juvenile facilities including schools and private institutes for ten years after their conviction.

   In a nationwide inquiry into the criminal records of 139 million public and private workers at 270,000 such facilities, 27 people were discovered to have been convicted of sex crimes, the National Police Agency (NPA) said.

   It marks the first time that the NPA has conducted the extensive inquiry in cooperation with five relevant ministries, such as the education and welfare ministries, since the regulation took effect in 2006.

   "Of 1,179 sex crimes against minors last year, more than 10 percent took place at schools, private institutes and child care centers. Also, 44.3 percent of sex offenders victimized children they were acquainted with," said Lee Un-ju, an NPA officer.

   Of the 27 people caught, six had been serving as teachers at either schools or private institutes, with one waiting to be appointed as an elementary school teacher. The other 17 had been working at sports facilities such as gyms and taekwondo studios, while two were janitors at apartment buildings and one had been running a child care center, according to the NPA.

   By type of sex crime, 10 out of 27 were convicted of sex trafficking of minors, followed by sexual harassment with eight and rape with seven, the NPA said.

   In one case, an unidentified man, who had served a jail term for raping a teenager, was found working at a private institute as an English instructor, while a female middle school teacher, who has been behind bars for child molestation charges, was able to maintain her title, the NPA added.

   "We will thoroughly check the criminal records of the employees and the would-be workers at facilities the adolescents use on a regular basis to protect them from sex offenders," Lee of the NPA said.

   graceoh@yna.co.kr
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