Three Additional Defendants Sued by the Bereaved Family of the Female Sergeant

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] The bereaved family of Air Force Sergeant Lee has filed additional complaints against three Air Force non-commissioned officers. They submitted the complaints to the Ministry of National Defense prosecution team on the 3rd, raising the possibility of further sexual harassment victims by other superiors.

According to the military on the day, the family's attorney, Lawyer Kim Jeong-hwan, submitted the complaints to the Ministry of National Defense prosecution team in Yongsan-gu, Seoul. The family filed complaints against three additional individuals, two of whom are known to be the superior and warrant officer who first received the report that Sergeant Lee was sexually harassed inside a vehicle. The charges include dereliction of duty and attempted coercion. The superior who first received the report is also alleged to have directly sexually harassed Sergeant Lee in the past, and is reportedly charged with "sexual assault by a soldier" as well. The remaining individual is a non-commissioned officer from another unit, but the family believes the sexual harassment occurred when he was dispatched to the 20th Fighter Wing where Sergeant Lee was stationed a year ago. This means there are at least two more perpetrators of sexual harassment during Sergeant Lee’s service.

On the day, Lawyer Kim explained, "The key point is that we filed complaints against three additional individuals to identify who the secondary perpetrators are," adding, "One of the non-commissioned officers at the center of the cover-up directly sexually assaulted the victim, so we submitted a complaint regarding that part."

Meanwhile, regarding criticism that the Ministry of National Defense’s investigation is insufficient, Lawyer Kim said, "The bereaved family’s position is that they believe and hope the military will resolve this case on its own," and added, "Regarding that point, the official stance of the family and legal team is to trust the military prosecution team for now and hope the investigation is conducted transparently."