Unanimous Not Guilty Verdict in Suwon District Court People's Jury Trial
Husband Who Secretly Filmed Sentenced to 1 Year Imprisonment
A woman in her 40s who was prosecuted for sending threatening messages to her husband's mistress after watching a secretly recorded sex video of her husband and the other woman was acquitted in a citizen trial.
On the 25th, the Criminal Division 15 of Suwon District Court (Chief Judge Lee Jeong-jae) accepted the jury's opinion and acquitted Ms. A (41, female), who was indicted without detention on charges of violating the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment, etc. of Sexual Crimes (threatening to use recordings). Additionally, Mr. B (36, male), the husband who was indicted in detention on charges of illegally filming sexual intercourse with the mistress and extorting money (violation of the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment, etc. of Sexual Crimes), was sentenced to one year in prison.
Ms. A is a naturalized Korean, and Mr. B is a Chinese national. In February 2022, Ms. A discovered a video of sexual intercourse between the complainant Ms. C (43, female) and her husband Mr. B on her husband's cellphone. She re-recorded this video onto her own phone and sent it to Ms. C in July of the same year along with a message on social networking services (SNS). Ms. A was charged with threatening Ms. C with the message, which stated, "I will come to your house. I will show the video to your husband and child." Mr. B is accused of secretly filming the sexual intercourse with Ms. C without her consent on his cellphone at a hotel in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, in January of the same year and attempting to extort money using the video as leverage.
The trial was conducted as a citizen trial at the request of the defendants. A citizen trial is a system where ordinary citizens participate as jurors in criminal trials, acting like judges. The court randomly selected seven official jurors from 33 jury candidates who appeared in court that day, after going through the prosecutor's and defense's challenges.
Ms. A's defense attorney explained to the jurors, "Since adultery is no longer a crime, there are cases where the perpetrator of adultery threatens the victim with defamation or other charges," and requested, "Please examine whether Ms. C is truly the victim in this case." The defense argued that since Ms. C did not admit to the affair, Ms. A suggested meeting to watch the video together, and the message sent to the victim was merely a temporary expression of anger within socially acceptable limits. Mr. B denied the 'hidden camera' charge, claiming the sexual video was filmed with the other party's consent. On the other hand, the victim's attorney stated, "When I first saw Ms. C, she was completely mentally distraught due to the video threats and was terrified to the point of attempting self-harm," and added, "She did not know the defendants were legally married and regrets meeting Mr. B."
The prosecution demanded a one-year prison sentence for Ms. A and two years for Mr. B. After deliberating from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., the seven jurors unanimously acquitted Ms. A and found Mr. B guilty. Regarding sentencing for Mr. B, one juror recommended two years, five recommended one year, and one recommended ten months, resulting in a one-year prison sentence.
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