A 20-Year-Old Sentenced to Prison for Posting a Fake Murder Threat Using Her Older Brother's Cell Phone

Posted 50 False Online Articles in 15 Days
Sentenced to 1 Year and 4 Months in Prison

A woman in her 20s who posted false murder threat messages about herself online over about two weeks to have her estranged older brother punished was sentenced to prison.

The Changwon District Court Criminal Division 4 (Presiding Judge Kang Hee-kyung) announced on the 5th that it sentenced A (21), who was tried on charges including obstruction of official duties by deception, intimidation, false accusation, and defamation, to 1 year and 4 months in prison.

The content of the text is unrelated to the image. [Image source=Pixabay]

A was indicted for posting about 50 false murder threat messages about herself on various online communities using her older brother B’s mobile phone and other means from August 30 to September 13 at her residence in Gimhae, Gyeongsangnam-do, with the purpose of having B punished. While writing the murder threat messages, she also wrote, "If you report to the police, I will kill the responding officers."

When the police responded to the report at the time, A reportedly stated, "I suspect my older brother," and "Even though he is my older brother, he should be legally punished for posting such dangerous messages."

Due to A’s false posts, 215 police officers from 112 patrol teams, criminal investigation teams, and women and youth investigation teams nationwide suffered interference in their duties, resulting in a waste of police resources.

In the judgment, the court pointed out, "Obstruction of official duties by deception wastes police resources, and false accusation puts innocent parties in danger, so both must be strictly punished." It added, "Considering the very poor nature of the crime based on the content of the offense and the fact that there is no prior criminal record, the sentence was determined."

Previously, A was also indicted and tried on separate charges of defamation and fraud. In March, A was accused of saving the phone number of investigator C, who was in charge of the case she requested the police to investigate, and showing C’s KakaoTalk profile picture to a university senior while claiming, "I am dating C, but I was forcibly impregnated and even had an abortion."

In July, she was accused of ordering food at her residence and deceiving the vendor by promising to transfer payment via bank account but failing to pay the food and delivery fees.