On the 14th, the 31st Division of the Seoul Central District Court’s Criminal Agreement (President Judge Cho Sung-pil) sentenced A, a former Seoul Mayor’s secretary office, who was charged with a semi-rape punishment, to three years of imprisonment and ordered him to complete a sexual violence treatment program for 40 hours. Mr. A was sentenced and arrested. Earlier, the prosecution requested that Mr. A be sentenced to eight years in prison. The judge said, “The accused committed adultery against a victim who was incapable of protest because he was drunk. The crime was committed against a victim who was a colleague at work, and the victim was reported to the media that he was a public official at the Seoul Metropolitan Government. He revealed the reason for the sentence, saying, “We are having great difficulty in returning to society.”
On April 14, last year, the day before the election of the 21st National Assembly member, Mr. A took a drunk and unconscious victim to a motel after having a drink with former and current employees of the secretary’s office of the mayor of Seoul, and sexually assaulted the victim. Suspected for causing post-stress disorder (PTSD). It is known that Mr. A has been working on the protocol for Mayor Park for several years, but was released from his position in this case.
On that day, the court referred to the facts of former Mayor Park’s sexual harassment. This is because Mr. A argued in the trial that “the victim’s post-traumatic stress disorder is due to Mayor Park’s sexual harassment, not me.” The victim of this incident is the same person as the person who has been sexually harassed by Mayor Park.
The judge said, “The victim has been treated from May to November of last year at the hospital after this incident, and stated what he had suffered for various purposes. The main content is, a year and a half after working under Mayor Park. Since then, there has been a content that Mayor Park sent a text with sexual content such as’I want to smell,”I’m in good shape,”Send me a picture’, etc., or a picture taken while wearing underwear.” He added, “After the victim moved to the department in January 2019, there were several statements to the effect of saying, “You need to know a man to marry,” and “I will tell you about sex.”
The judge ruled that “in the light of several victim statements, it must be true that the victim suffered considerable mental suffering from the sexual harassment of Mayor Park.” However, it was determined that the victim’s post-traumatic stress disorder was caused by A’s sexual assault. The judge said, “The victim was seriously concerned about suicide due to the crime of the defendant, and he was treated with a complaint of self-confidence for being the target of the crime while unconsciously.”
As the court sentenced the case, it is expected that the incident is premised on the sexual harassment of Mayor Park. At the end of last year, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency concluded the investigation with’no public prosecution’ in the case of Mayor Park’s accusation of violating the Act on Forced Harassment and Sexual Violence. The police also sent to the prosecution with an unprosecution opinion, saying, “There is not enough evidence to prove,” of seven former and current Seoul officials who are accused of assisting the case. After Mayor Park’s death in July of last year, the investigation was completed for five months, but the actual truth was not found. The victim’s side filed a request for information disclosure against the Seoul Central District Prosecutor’s Office, saying, “Disclose the contents of the Songchi Opinion written by the police,” but it was dismissed on the 11th.
Meanwhile, the prosecution launched an investigation against Democratic Party lawmaker Nam In-soon and Kim Young-soon, a permanent representative of the Korean Women’s Association, who are suspected of leaking the allegations of sexual harassment by Mayor Park.
On the 14th, the Seoul Northern District Prosecutor’s Office allocated the case to the second part of the detective (director prosecutor Lim Jong-pil). The second part of the detective was the department that investigated the leak of the former Mayor Park’s lawsuit. Earlier, the bar exam preparation group asked the prosecution to investigate whether Congressman Nam and CEO Kim leaked the accusation to Mayor Park through the National Newspaper on the 1st and damaged the reputation of the victims of sexual harassment.
[홍혜진 기자]
[ⓒ 매일경제 & mk.co.kr, 무단전재 및 재배포 금지]