2013 Sep 14: Yis charged with molestation

Gwinnett Daily Post | By Tyler Estep | Updated Saturday, September 14, 2013 | © Copyright 2015 Gwinnett Daily Post

SUWANEE — The six Korean exchange students allegedly forced to strip and touch each other were not the first to be hosted by the Suwanee couple accused of abusing them.

The Daily Post first reported Thursday that Woo Ki Yi, 42, and wife Hyun Ju Yi, 40, had been charged with child molestation and furnishing alcohol to minors in connection to incidents involving exchange students — all ages 15 to 18 — staying at their home at 3830 Regal Oaks Drive in Suwanee. More details came to light on Friday, including concerns about the potential for additional victims.

According to Gwinnett County police, six Korean teenagers had been staying with the Yis for about nine weeks, their parents paying more than $15,000 apiece for them to have somewhere to live while attending local high schools. All was seemingly well until Wednesday, when one of them “made an outcry of abuse” to an employee at their school. Authorities were contacted.

“When detectives interviewed the six victims, they said that the Yis would provide them with alcohol and have them play games,” Gwinnett County police spokesman Cpl. Jake Smith said. “The losers would be required to remove an item of clothing. After the victims were naked, Woo Yi would order them to kiss and touch each other.”

Those “games” are believed to have happened four or more times, Smith said.

The Yis were arrested late Wednesday and are being held without bond. They face two counts of child molestation and six alcohol charges apiece.

Smith said that the students had been placed “in temporary homes at their parents’ request.” More details on that front were not available.

It was unclear Friday if the Yis were participants in a legitimate program or operated independently, but they had hosted exchange students before. The possibility of other alleged victims is being looked into, Smith said.

“Apparently they have hosted kids for some time,” Smith said, “but we don’t have anything to say this happened before. It’s a concern that will be looked into.”

Additional charges from the current group of victims are also being explored.

2013 Sep 13: Host Family for Korean Exchange Students Charged with Child Molestation

(Lawrenceville, Georgia, September 13, 2013)  Gwinnett County Police Department Special Victims Unit detectives were called to a local school in reference to a sexual abuse report on September 11, 2013.  A teenager made an outcry of abuse to an employee of the school, who called police.  The victims told employees of the school that their host family had provided them with alcohol and forced them to strip and touch each other.

Detectives determined the victims were six Korean national teenagers, male and female, ranging in age from 15 to 18.  The victims were living with Woo Yi (A/M, 42 years old) and his wife, Hyun Yi (A/F, 41 years old).  The parents of the six victims had paid Woo Yi more than $15,000 each to host their children while they attended local high schools.  All six of the children lived with the Yi’s at their home: 3830 Regal Oaks Drive, Suwanee (unincorporated), Georgia.  The children attended several different schools.

When detectives interviewed the six victims, they said that the Yi’s would provide them with alcohol and have them play games.  The losers would be required to remove an item of clothing.  After the victims were naked, Woo Yi would order them to kiss and touch each other.  Detectives believe this happened four or more times.

Following the initial investigation, detectives placed Woo Yi and Hyun Yi under arrest for two counts of child molestation and six counts of furnishing alcohol to minors.  They are currently being held in the Gwinnett County Detention Center without bond.  Additional charges are under investigation.  The victims have been placed in temporary homes at their parents’ request.

Helpline US Department of State

1-866-283-9090 (24 hours a day, 7 days a week) The Department of State activated the helpline to ensure the health and safety of its exchange participants. Students have a right to be treated fairly and to report abuse without retaliation or threat of program cancellation. (Dep of State)

Blind trust in exchange organisations

You would not send your child to a house at the end of your street if you knew nothing about the person living there. Yet on the strength of a glossy brochure, the payment in some cases of vast sums of money, and an assumption that someone else has asked the right questions, we send our children thousands of miles across the world to stay with strangers.

The companies, organisations and individuals that abuse this blind trust cannot be allowed to continue to profit from it and we must all take responsibility for the care and safety of our young people. (Chris Gould)