Man in His 30s Who Visited Ex-Lover's Workplace and Home…Cleared of Stalking, Found Not Guilty

Rang the doorbell at ex-lover's home and posted a note…summary order of 3 million won fine
Court: "Attempted conversation to restore the relationship…hard to see it as inducing fear"

A man in his 30s who was put on trial on charges of visiting the workplace and home of a former lover and sending messages was found not guilty by the court.

The Seongnam Branch of the Suwon District Court announced on the 19th that on the 29th of last month it had found Mr. A—who had been indicted on charges of violating the Act on the Punishment of Stalking Crimes and of trespassing—not guilty.

Mr. A was put on trial on charges of stalking, such as continuously sending text messages and visiting the home and workplace of Ms. B, with whom he had broken up last year. In this process, he also faced a trespassing charge for ringing the doorbell at the shared entrance in front of Ms. B's home and posting a note.

The prosecution, viewing Mr. A's charges as established, sought a summary order of a 3 million won fine, and the court accepted this; but Mr. A objected to the ruling and requested a formal trial.

During the trial, Mr. A's side claimed that he had been in a serious relationship on the premise of marriage and suddenly received notice of a breakup, and that he had merely attempted conversation to restore the relationship without any intent to stalk. He also explained that, since they had reconciled after quarreling in the past, he had no intent to induce fear in the other party during the process of contacting her.

The court sided with Mr. A's argument. Regarding the stalking charge, the bench held, "The messages the defendant sent were about improving the relationship, and there were times when the victim also replied and messages were exchanged several times," judging that "it is difficult to view such message-sending as inducing anxiety or fear in the victim."

Regarding the trespassing charge as well, it stated, "The defendant usually visited the victim's home frequently, and even after a previous quarrel he had visited the victim's home to apologize and reconcile before dating again," holding that "considering that he appears to have visited under the mistaken belief that there was a possibility of restoring the relationship, it is difficult to view it as an act of intrusion that disturbs the peace."

Attorney Jung Hong-cheol of Daeryun Law Firm, who represented Mr. A, said, "For a stalking crime to be established, it must be an act capable of causing anxiety or fear in the other party," adding, "By presenting the nature of the two people's relationship and the actual conversation records as objective evidence, we demonstrated that it did not constitute an act inducing fear."

Reporter Park Yong-gyu pyk1208@kyeonggi.com

Reporter Kong Hye-rin heygong00@kyeonggi.com

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