The Philippine Online Chronicles

A South Korean court on Tuesday sentenced a US soldier to 10 years in prison for sexually assaulting a local teenage girl last September, a ruling which was described as the heaviest punishment handed to an American in the peninsula.

The US Army Private who was not named by the court raped an 18-year-old Korean multiple times in the city of Dongducheon, which hosts the US Second Infantry Division based near the North Korean border.

“As the accused satisfied his sexual desire in a sadistic and perverted manner for three hours, the victim suffered fear and humiliation," the local court said in its judgement quoted by Yonhap news agency.

The court said the 21-year-old soldier entered a low-budget dorm-style room early September 24 and “sexually assaulted and tormented the victim, threatening her with a pair of scissors,” according to an Al Jazeera report.

The US soldier also robbed the teenage girl of 5,000 won ($4.50) before running away, the Ujieongbu District Court said.

Prosecutors had demanded a 15-year prison term, but the court handed down only a 10-year sentence because the soldier had allegedly repented, was still young and the rape was his first crime.

Assistant secretary of state Kurt Campbell offerend an apology last month to the Korean people for the “tragic and inexcusable rape.”

Amid the rape case, the US military imposed a month-long late-night curfew on its troops in the country.

The United States has about 28,000 troops in South Korea to supposedly augment defense against North Korea. Crimes involving US soldiers have caused anti-American sentiments among South Koreans.

In 2002, the acquittals of two American soldiers whose armored vehicle ran over and killed two South Korean schoolgirls during training prompted massive nationwide protests against the US military presence in the country, according to Al Jazeera.