"It's Cold, So I'll Give You Money…" Man in His 50s Who Molested a High School Girl on a Bus 'Cleared of Charges'

Accused of Following and Embracing a High School Student He Had Never Met
Prosecution "No Intent to Lure or Molest, and Hard to Conclude Contact Occurred"

The prosecution issued a non-indictment disposition to a man in his 50s who had been accused of forcibly molesting a high school girl on a bus.

The Seoul Western District Prosecutors' Office on the 12th of last month issued a no-charge disposition due to insufficient evidence regarding A, a man in his 50s, who had been referred on charges of violating the Act on the Protection of Children and Juveniles against Sexual Abuse (forcible molestation).

A was accused of approaching B, a girl in her teens, in March, handing her cash and his contact information, boarding the same bus, and embracing B's shoulder area in the process of getting off.

A, on the other hand, denied the charges. He argued that he had shown goodwill out of pity, wondering whether B—who was wearing thin outerwear in the cold weather—might be a student in difficult circumstances. He also countered that when getting off the bus, he had merely lightly pushed her back to mean 'get off quickly,' and had absolutely no intent to molest.

The prosecution accepted A's argument. It was recognized that although the nighttime temperature on the day of the incident was near sub-zero, the victim was wearing a jumper rather than a padded coat or overcoat, so she could have looked very cold. Decisively, upon checking the CCTV footage inside the bus, there was no scene of embracing her shoulder or trying to drag her, contrary to B's claim, and only a scene of unconsciously pushing her back was confirmed, so it judged that A's statement had credibility.

The prosecution also considered the circumstances that A, immediately after returning home, told his spouse, "I gave 50,000 won to a student who looked like my daughter," and that his spouse likewise praised this, concluding that it was difficult to conclude that A had made physical contact with the intent of sexual luring or molestation.

Meanwhile, Attorney Kim In-won of Daeryun LLC (law firm), who represented A, said, "In sex crime cases, one must comprehensively judge not only fragmentary victim statements or whether physical contact occurred, but also the specific circumstances leading to the act and the objective situation," adding, "As a result of systematically reconstructing and actively demonstrating the circumstantial evidence that could prove goodwill—such as the weather records at the time of the incident, the CCTV footage, and the conversation with family immediately after the incident—we were able to achieve a good result." jckim99@sportsseoul.com

Reporter Kim Jong-cheol

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"It's Cold, So I'll Give You Money…" Man in His 50s Who Molested a High School Girl on a Bus 'Cleared of Charges' (Go)