"First You Touched and Seduced Me"...Drunk Female Passenger Sexually Assaulted by Taxi Driver Sentenced to Prison Again on Appeal

Court: "Age difference over 40 years... Difficult to believe victim's proposal for sexual relations"

A taxi driver in his 60s was sentenced to prison again in the appellate court for sexually assaulting a heavily intoxicated woman passenger in her 20s.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-ju] A taxi driver in his 60s who sexually assaulted a heavily intoxicated female passenger in her 20s was sentenced to prison again in the appellate court. The taxi driver's claim that the victim had initiated the sexual encounter was not accepted.

On the 5th, the 3rd Criminal Division of the Daejeon High Court dismissed the appeal of Mr. A (68), who was charged with quasi-rape, and sentenced him to four years in prison.

Mr. A was charged with sexually assaulting passenger Ms. B (22, female), who was heavily intoxicated, after picking her up in Jung-gu, Daejeon around 11 p.m. on February 10 last year and taking her to a motel.

Ms. B reportedly drank with acquaintances until she lost consciousness from intoxication and did not know what had happened until she woke up the next morning at the motel.

After leaving the motel, Ms. B asked her acquaintances about the situation and only after returning to the motel and inquiring again did she suspect sexual assault and report it to the police.

Mr. A claimed to the investigative authorities and the court that "Ms. B was not intoxicated or asleep at the time and had proposed sexual intercourse first."

However, both the first trial and the appellate court rejected Mr. A's claims.

The first trial court stated, "It is hard to believe that a victim who was over 40 years younger and whom he met for the first time would feel sexual desire due to alcohol and propose sexual intercourse first. It is also difficult to believe the claim that the victim, who was intoxicated to the point of losing memory, actively approached him."

Mr. A appealed, claiming that "she touched me first and seduced me," but the appellate court upheld the original judgment.

The appellate court ruled, "Even considering Mr. A's claims, it cannot be seen that the original sentence was unfair."