Late Sergeant Lee Yeram's Perpetrator Receives Additional 1-Year Prison Sentence from Supreme Court for 'Secondary Harm'

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Jang Mo (27), a sergeant currently serving a 7-year prison sentence for sexually assaulting the late Sergeant Lee Yeram, has been sentenced to an additional 1 year in prison by the Supreme Court for defaming the deceased.

According to the legal community on the 11th, the Supreme Court's 3rd Division (Presiding Justice Lee Heung-gu) upheld the original ruling sentencing Jang to 1 year in prison for defamation by dismissing his appeal on the 2nd.

Jang, who was assigned to the Air Force's 20th Fighter Wing, is accused of forcibly sexually assaulting Sergeant Lee in March 2021 and then damaging her reputation by falsely claiming to colleagues that he was falsely accused. It was investigated that he made remarks to the effect of "It was a common occurrence and I was reported. Be careful."

Sergeant Lee reported the sexual assault, but the investigation was not properly conducted, and after suffering secondary victimization, she took her own life on May 21, 2021. After the case became public, criticism over the inadequate investigation grew. The special prosecutor team led by An Mi-young, launched in May 2022, conducted a full reinvestigation of the case and held Jang and other Air Force personnel accountable for the inadequate investigation and secondary victimization, bringing them to trial.

The courts in the first and second trials sentenced Jang to 1 year in prison. Although Jang appealed, the Supreme Court also found the second trial's ruling appropriate and dismissed the appeal. Jang was previously prosecuted for charges including forced sexual assault causing injury. After trials in military courts at the first and second levels and finally the Supreme Court, his 7-year prison sentence was confirmed in September 2022, and he is currently serving his sentence.