5 Victims... Suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress
Famous as a Soprano and Vocal Music Professor Couple
A vocal instructor, formerly affiliated with one of the top five renowned opera companies in Korea, has been brought to trial on charges of habitual sexual harassment against high school female students who came to him for university entrance exam preparation.
According to the legal community on the 28th, the Women and Children Crime Investigation Division of the Seoul Northern District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Gumiok) has indicted vocal artist and entrance exam instructor Mr. A without detention on charges of repeatedly committing sexual violence (forcible molestation and quasi-rape) against his students during vocal exam lessons.
Professor A, a vocal music professor, is accused of forcibly touching student B’s body parts and committing quasi-rape through coercion over approximately six months starting from July 2013.
The statute of limitations for sexual crimes such as molestation and quasi-rape is 10 years, and Mr. A was brought to trial about two months before the expiration of this period.
During lessons, Mr. A repeatedly touched B’s body parts, saying he needed to "check the chest resonance."
When B refused the continued molestation, Mr. A reportedly demanded, "I want to show you the erogenous zones. Can’t I just touch you once directly?" or exerted his authority by saying, "You don’t know where to apply strength, so your singing doesn’t improve," ultimately committing quasi-rape.
It is known that there are five victims, including B, who have come forward claiming to have been harmed by Mr. A.
Another victim, C, filed a complaint against Mr. A at the Seongbuk Police Station in June, but the Seoul Northern District Prosecutors' Office decided not to prosecute, stating, "It is difficult to consider that the complainant was in a state where resistance was impossible or extremely difficult, and there is no evidence to acknowledge the accused facts." C has decided to appeal to the prosecution.
In C’s case, she received obstetric and gynecological treatment due to pain during lessons and was hospitalized in a psychiatric ward for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) treatment since 2016.
B also achieved her dream of entering the vocal music department but suffered from symptoms akin to post-traumatic stress, such as fear of rumors spreading in the narrow vocal music community, leading her to drop out in her second year of university.
Meanwhile, Mr. A is reported to have been famously known as a couple with a renowned soprano and vocal music professor.
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