Supreme Court Confirms 11-Month Prison Sentence for Jo Deok-je in Secondary Harm Case Involving 'Sexual Harassment Actress'...

On November 7, 2017, actor Jo Deok-jae expressed his position regarding the sexual harassment controversy involving an actress at a rebuttal press conference held at P&T Square in Jongno-gu, Seoul. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin, Legal Affairs Specialist] Actor Jo Deok-je (54), who was indicted for 'secondary harm' by posting defamatory content about the actress he sexually harassed on the internet, has been sentenced to prison.

According to the legal community on the 20th, the Supreme Court's First Division (Presiding Justice Kim Seon-su) recently upheld the lower court's ruling sentencing Jo to 11 months in prison in his appeal trial on charges including defamation under the Information and Communications Network Act, insult, and violation of the Sexual Violence Crime Punishment Act (confidentiality breach).

Previously, Jo was prosecuted for forcibly touching actress Ban Min-jeong's body without prior consent during a film shoot in April 2015. In September 2018, the Supreme Court confirmed a sentence of one year in prison with a two-year probation period and ordered him to complete 40 hours of a sexual violence treatment program.

Jo was again indicted without detention on charges of repeatedly posting false information online to defame the victim Ban during the sexual harassment trial from 2017 to 2018 or after the Supreme Court's final ruling. Jo's spouse, Jeong Mo, was also prosecuted together on the same charges.

The first trial court, Uijeongbu District Court Criminal Division 2, sentenced Jo to one year in prison and ordered his immediate detention in January. In the second trial, conducted due to appeals from both Jo and the prosecution, some of the insult charges were acquitted, reducing Jo's sentence by one month. Jeong, who was sentenced to six months in prison with a two-year probation in the first trial, had their appeal dismissed.