A 54-year-old Ellicott City barber is facing sexual assault charges after a 13-year-old boy accused him of sexually assaulting him in a closet of the hair salon, according to police records.
According to charging documents, the 13-year-old said he had been Jung Gon Kim’s client at Sound of Scissors Hair Salon, 3419 Plum Tree Drive, since the salon opened about six months ago.
During that time he said that Kim, of Boyd, MD, asked him questions about puberty and sexuality and asked him to watch pornography.
In his statement to police, the 13-year-old said that Kim would arrange it so that the boy was the last client and the two were alone.
Kim told police that he is the owner and only employee at the salon.
Kim told police he had asked questions about puberty but, according to the charging document, “Kim advised this is a part of his culture and he did not see anything wrong with it.”
Kim was being held in the Maryland Criminal Detention Center on $500,000 bond. He faces one charge of sexual abuse of a minor; one charge of second-degree sexual offense; two charges of third-degree sexual offense; one charge of sodomy; and one charge of second-degree assault.
Police are asking any parents of children who visited the salon to talk with their children to determine if there may have been other offenses and to contact the police at 410-313-2200.
