Academy instructor who sexually assaulted a minor he met on a chat app had his sentence reduced on appeal

A 20-year-old academy instructor who sexually assaulted a minor whom he met through a chat app several times and even received illegally filmed footage from him had his sentence commuted on appeal.

On the 23rd, the 1st Criminal Division of the Daegu High Court announced that it overturned the original trial that sentenced 29-year-old Mr.

In addition, Mr. A was ordered to take 40 hours of sexual violence treatment classes and to be restricted from employment at organizations related to children, youth, and the disabled for five years.

Mr. A is accused of luring Miss B, who was 12 years old at the time, from his vehicle in the parking lot of an apartment complex in Seo-gu, Daegu, and having sex with her in August last year.

It is known that Mr. A had sexual intercourse with Ms. B on a total of 10 occasions from August to October of last year through a chat app.

He also forced Ms. B to take revealing photos and send them to her.

In addition, it was revealed that obscene messages containing content such as “Please take off my clothes” were sent more than 47 times.

The first trial court sentenced the defendant to four years in prison, pointing out that "the nature of the crime is very bad, as the defendant committed adultery with a victim who was only 12 years old and filmed and transmitted sexually exploitative material," and "since he made the victim, a child and adolescent in need of protection, the object of his sexual desires because his awareness and values ​​about sex have not yet been established, severe punishment is inevitable."

During the subsequent appeal process, Mr. A asked the court to take into account the fact that he voluntarily deleted all illegally filmed videos sent by the victim and that Mr. A made efforts to end his meeting with the victim after recognizing his mistake.

He also argued that the victim expressed his intention not to punish Mr. A.

The appeals court ruled, “It does not appear that the defendant used coercive force such as assault or intimidation, and there are no circumstances showing that the sexually exploitative material he produced was leaked to the outside world,” and that “it seems appropriate to postpone the execution of the prison sentence along with probation, etc., rather than executing the actual sentence.”

Attorney Lee Shin-gyu of Daeryun Law Firm (Limited), who is Mr. A's legal representative, said, "There are many cases where problems arise due to meeting with a minor through an app. The age limit for statutory rape of a minor was raised from 13 to 16, and the scope has been expanded, so the number of cases being booked is increasing."

He explained, "It is difficult to avoid criminal punishment in cases of sexual crimes against minors even if there was no assault or intimidation. If a conviction is made, various security measures for sexual crimes such as employment restrictions, attachment of an electronic anklet, and registration and disclosure of personal information are also imposed, so we must respond from the investigation stage."

[View full article] - Academy instructor who sexually assaulted a minor he met on a chat app had his sentence reduced on appeal (link)