Statistics show that sex crimes against children most frequently occur between noon and 6 p.m. The National Police Agency said Wednesday it analyzed 10,129 sexual assaults reported at 18 call centers from 2009 until the first half of this year and found that 54.7 percent of victims under seven and 44.9 percent of elementary school victims were assaulted in the afternoon.

Most of the assaults took place at the victim's house, accounting for 26.6 percent of under-sevens and 23.1 percent of elementary school victims. The statistics show that latchkey kids are the most vulnerable in their own homes.

A total of 60.4 percent of victims under seven and 43.5 percent of elementary school victims had been enticed rather than subdued by force, leading to calls for increased awareness of sex crimes targeting children. Younger victims were easier targets of sexual crimes committed by their neighbors, relatives or friends of the family. Neighbors were the perpetrators in 17.6 percent under-seven victims, while 13.1 percent were relatives.

Adults committed 79.7 percent of the crimes, but 7.5 percent of perpetrators were high school students and 4.8 percent were in middle school. Compared to three years ago, the number of assailants in high school grew significantly.