SC upholds life sentence, P2 million fine for South Korea pastor

Over trafficking of minors

MANILA, Philippines — The Supreme Court (SC) has affirmed the life sentence meted out on a South Korean pastor convicted of qualified trafficking for recruiting minors to his church, resulting in forced labor.

In a 22-page ruling promulgated on June 5, the SC’s Third Division upheld the 2017 conviction of Si Young Oh, alias Steve Oh, for qualified trafficking in persons under Republic Act RA 9208 or the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Law.

The ruling was affirmed by the Court of Appeals in 2021.

The high tribunal ruled that the prosecution was able to establish the elements of trafficking when Oh recruited three minors, all 17 years old, to become missionaries of the Korean Christian Presbyterian General Assembly.

The SC also upheld the P2 million fine imposed on Oh and ordered him to pay each victim P600,000 in moral and exemplary damages.

The SC said Oh, who was the head of a theology school in Pampanga, used fraud and deceit when, under false pretenses, he enticed the minors to become students of a school that had no license to operate.

“He took advantage of the vulnerability of the minors as believers in their chosen faith,” the SC said.

Evidence also demonstrated that the minors, who were rescued in April 2013, were subjected to forced labor and servitude, which was justified by Oh as part of the victims’ religious training and as sacrifice they had to render in their supposed formation of future pastors and missionaries.

The SC noted that the minors, instead of attending classes, were forced to work for free on church construction projects.

“Clearly, such acts constitute exploitation and weaponization of the victims’ religious beliefs and, consequently, cement the exploitative purpose under which they were trafficked,” the SC ruling read.

The high court rejected Oh’s defense that the minors did construction work voluntarily as part of their religious training, saying the consent of the victims is “immaterial in human trafficking cases” and their consent could neither negate nor mitigate the pastor’s criminal responsibility.

“Defeating human trafficking is a moral calling of our time. It is a crime that targets the most vulnerable members of society and profits from their suffering. As in many cases, human trafficking is most deplorable when committed against minors as it robs them of their dreams and aspirations,” the high tribunal said.

“Because injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere, the court will never shirk on its moral and legal duties to uphold justice for the victims of this detestable crime,” the SC added.