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Panty thief gets 9 years
04/08/2006 11:12 - (SA)
Portland - Panty thief Sung Koo Kim may face about nine years in prison for stealing thousands of pairs of underwear from college dorm rooms, laundry rooms and campus-area apartments.
He was sentenced on Wednesday to an extra 18 months in prison, for a total of more than 11 years. Under the plea agreement he signed, he could get out after about nine years, given time off for good behaviour and credit for the time he has spent in local jails since he was arrested in 2004.
Kim, 32, pleaded guilty to college-area burglaries and underwear thefts in 2003 and 2004. He came to the United States from South Korea as a child.
When investigators searched Kim's bedroom, they found more than 3 400 pairs of underwear and other pieces of women's clothing, along with dryer lint and human hair, marked with information as to where the clothing was taken, and stuffed into boxes, duffel bags and backpacks. His home computer contained more than 40 000 pornographic images, mostly depicting rape, torture and killings.
Prosecutors called Kim a danger to the public. His attorneys said psychiatrists who interviewed him indicated he was not violent but suffered from depression and an underwear fetish.
He also has been sentenced to serve time while undergoing mental health treatment, and he is expected to plead guilty to more charges where prosecutors have agreed for concurrent sentences.
"I would just like to apologise to the victims for any inconvenience it may have caused them . . . or any anguish or suffering," Kim said in the courtroom.
- AP
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South Africa
