A fundraiser to help the victim of infamous child rapist Cho Doo-soon move out of their home now that Cho has said he wants to return to the neighborhood has so far netted over W100 million (US$1=W1,173).
The money started pouring in last week, according to the Korean Association Against Violence and Abuse.
The association said that 1,991 people had made donations of W100.5 million in just five days to allow the victim to avoid bumping into her tormentor in the satellite town south of Seoul.
Cho is being released in December after serving his 12-year sentence for the brutal rape and mutilation of the victim, who was then 12 years old. He has said he wants to go home to his wife in Ansan, less than 1 km from the home of the victim's family.
A university student who took part in the fundraiser said, "I think anyone who has committed sexual violence should be screened and put under tougher restrictions before returning to society."
The fundraiser started on Sept. 23 at the suggestion of psychiatrist Shin Yee-jin, the head of the association, who helped the victim after the crime.
"I was told that the victim's family can't move out of the city because of financial difficulties," Shin said. "If the government can't protect them against the rapist, we will chip in."
A new law keeping child sex offenders away from their victims went into effect in April last year, but it does not apply retroactively.
Cho will be required to wear an electronic tag for seven years.
