Defendant Factory Resets Phone Day Before Investigation
Court Rules "No Evidence Like Photos" and Acquits
Prosecution Appeals Against Decision
A man in his 20s who was charged with secretly filming a woman using the restroom in a unisex bathroom was acquitted due to the lack of evidence such as videos or photos.
On the 28th, the Chuncheon District Court Wonju Branch Criminal Division 1 (Presiding Judge Kim Dohyung) announced that it had acquitted Mr. A (20), who was charged with violating the Special Act on the Punishment of Sexual Crimes, etc. (filming and distribution using a camera).
Mr. A was prosecuted on charges of secretly filming Ms. B (21, female) using the women's stall next to the men's stall in a unisex restroom at a pub in Wonju, Gangwon Province, at 9:04 PM on March 28 of last year.
The restroom where the incident occurred is unisex, with one men's stall and one women's stall side by side. It was confirmed that Mr. A entered the restroom at 9:04 PM on the day of the incident and came out at 9:12 PM, eight minutes later. During this time, three women including Ms. B used the women's stall, and Mr. A was the only user of the men's stall.
The victim's group stated that they heard the sound of a camera shutter and noises presumed to be masturbation in the restroom at the time, and Ms. B testified in court that about one-third of her phone camera lens was pointed from the men's stall toward the women's stall.
The police only summoned Mr. A for questioning on April 23, 25 days after the incident occurred. It was revealed that Mr. A had reset his phone on April 22, the day before the police interrogation.
Accordingly, the court considered that Mr. A might have committed the acts as charged, given that he had previously received juvenile protection measures for filming using a camera during high school and that he reset his phone before the police investigation. Nevertheless, the court acquitted Mr. A because no video or photo evidence proving that he filmed Ms. B using the restroom was submitted.
The court stated, "There is no evidence to prove Mr. A's charges," and ruled, "Since the prosecution's facts lack proof of the crime, the verdict is not guilty."
The prosecution appealed the first trial verdict.
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