[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] Choi Jong-beom, who was sentenced to probation in the first trial for assaulting and threatening the late singer Goo Hara, was sentenced to prison in the appellate trial and was taken into custody in court.
The Seoul Central District Court Criminal Appeal Division 1-1 (Presiding Judges Kim Jae-young, Song Hye-young, Jo Jung-rae) overturned the original sentence of 1 year and 6 months in prison with 3 years probation and sentenced Choi, who was charged with filming using a camera under the Sexual Violence Punishment Act, injury, and threats, to 1 year in prison on the 2nd.
The court judged that there was a risk of flight and immediately took him into custody in court that day.
The court pointed out, "Sexual intercourse is the most intimate area of privacy, and threatening to distribute videos filmed of it causes irreparable mental damage to the victim or seriously damages the victim's honor."
It continued, "The defendant recognized that the victim was a famous celebrity and that the expected damage if the sex video were distributed would be very serious, and rather exploited this fact to threaten to distribute the video through the media, making the nature of the crime very bad."
However, the court ruled not guilty, as in the first trial, on the charge that Choi filmed Goo’s body without consent.
Regarding this, the court stated, "Based only on the evidence submitted by the prosecution, it is difficult to conclude beyond reasonable doubt that the filming was done against the victim’s will."
Choi was prosecuted for assault and threats in September 2018 after injuring Goo’s arms and legs during an argument and threatening to distribute a sex video.
He is also charged with secretly filming Goo’s body in August of the same year (filming using a camera under the Sexual Violence Punishment Act) and forcing Goo to make the agency’s CEO kneel and apologize (coercion).
The first trial recognized Choi’s guilt for threats, coercion, injury, and property damage among the charges but acquitted him of filming Goo’s body, sentencing him to 1 year and 6 months in prison with 3 years probation.
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