Pretending to Be Single and Dating for 7 Years... Two Wedding Cancellations
Reduced Sentence After Posting 15 Million Won in Deposit in Second Trial
A man in his 30s was sentenced to prison after he deceived a woman, with whom he had been in a relationship for seven years while hiding his marriage, into aborting her pregnancy by falsely claiming abortion pills were folic acid supplements, and threatened her with photos and videos out of fear that his wife or acquaintances would find out.
Despite being married, the man had even set a wedding date with the victim but canceled the ceremony two days prior, falsely claiming he had contracted COVID-19. Although he forced the victim to have two abortions, he received a reduced sentence in the appellate court after posting a deposit of 15 million won.
According to the legal community on the 19th, the Supreme Court's First Division (Presiding Justice No Tae-ak) upheld the original sentence of 1 year and 2 months imprisonment for Lee (38), who was charged with forced abortion and intimidation.
The court stated, "There is no error in the lower court's judgment that violates logic and the rules of experience, exceeds the limits of free evaluation of evidence, or misinterprets or omits the legal principles regarding the establishment of forced abortion," thereby dismissing Lee's appeal.
Lee began dating Ms. B in 2014 on the premise of marriage. At that time, he was already engaged to his current spouse, whom he met through an acquaintance in 2009, but he concealed this fact. Even after marrying his spouse in November 2015, Lee continued to hide his marriage from Ms. B and maintained the relationship as if he would marry her.
In September 2020, when Ms. B became pregnant, Lee persuaded her by saying, "I take hair loss medication, so there is a high chance of giving birth to a child with deformities," leading Ms. B to decide to have an abortion herself.
In June 2021, when Ms. B became pregnant again, Lee once more encouraged her to abort. However, when Ms. B refused, stating she would not abort because they planned to marry, Lee decided to secretly administer abortion pills to induce the abortion.
On July 5 of the same year, Lee purchased two types of abortion pills online and on the evening of July 7, at an underground parking lot in Sasang-gu, Busan, he showed Ms. B six pills?two large and four small?claiming they were folic acid supplements necessary for pregnant women.
Lee deceived Ms. B by saying, "The large ones are high-dose folic acid. Take one first," and made her take one large pill. The next day (July 9), he gave her the remaining large pill.
On July 9 at 5 p.m., at a motel near Sasang-gu, Busan, Lee handed Ms. B two small pills, saying, "You need to take this folic acid today," which she took. Eventually, at 10 p.m. that evening, Ms. B expelled a fetus approximately three months old at her home.
Meanwhile, Lee had set a wedding date with Ms. B but canceled the ceremony twice, including once just two days before the wedding, using lies.
After canceling the wedding once, Lee agreed to hold the ceremony on December 19, 2021, following Ms. B's wishes, and prepared for the wedding while continuing to lie, saying things like "My father is critically ill in the hospital" or "There are problems finding a newlywed home." Then, two days before the wedding, on December 17, he lied to Ms. B, claiming he had contracted COVID-19, and canceled the wedding.
Suspecting Lee's behavior, Ms. B visited a restaurant run by Lee's mother on December 20, 2021, and learned from Lee's mother that Lee was a married man with children.
After meeting his mother, Lee feared that his wife or acquaintances would spread rumors about his relationship with Ms. B. He tried to resolve the situation by meeting Ms. B, but when she refused, Lee sent threatening messages from the evening of the day he visited his mother's restaurant until 5 a.m. the next day, saying, "If you don't meet me, there will be no more warnings. I'll show you the seven years of memories I have preserved. I have so many photos and videos of you. You won't be able to smile when you see them. I might become an internet superstar."
The first-instance court found Lee guilty on all charges and sentenced him to 1 year and 6 months in prison.
The court stated, "During the more than seven years of dating on the premise of marriage, the victim experienced repeated wedding cancellations without any explanation and lost fetuses twice. The miscarriage itself must have been a significant pain, but the shock the victim suffered upon realizing that the pills given by the defendant, disguised as folic acid, caused it is unimaginable."
Furthermore, the court said, "Despite having many opportunities to honestly confess his wrongdoing and stop further harm, the defendant repeatedly made irresponsible choices, worsening the situation. As a result, the victim suffered an irreparable wound during an important period of her life and strongly petitions for severe punishment of the defendant," explaining the sentencing rationale. However, the court also considered Lee's first offense and other favorable circumstances in sentencing.
However, the appellate court overturned the first-instance ruling and sentenced Lee to 1 year and 2 months imprisonment, accepting Lee's claim that the first sentence was too harsh.
Lee posted a deposit of 15 million won just before sentencing, and his first offense status was considered a favorable factor.
The appellate court pointed out, "The defendant married his current spouse in November 2015 and was therefore unable to marry the victim. Nevertheless, from around 2014, he began dating the victim on the premise of marriage, acted as if he would marry her, canceled the wedding twice, and caused the victim to lose fetuses twice."
The court added, "The miscarriage itself must have been a significant pain, and the victim took the pills given by the defendant, believing they were folic acid, which led to the abortion. The shock the victim suffered must have been considerable."
The court further stated, "Only after the victim learned that the defendant was married following the second wedding cancellation did the defendant threaten to distribute photos and videos to the victim instead of apologizing. Due to these crimes, the victim suffered irreparable wounds and continues to strongly petition for severe punishment of the defendant at the appellate stage. Therefore, appropriate punishment is necessary."
Nevertheless, the court explained the sentence reduction by saying, "Considering that the defendant admitted to the crimes, is a first-time offender, and posted a deposit of 15 million won during the appellate trial, along with other sentencing factors such as the defendant's age, character, environment, motive, and circumstances after the crime, the original sentence was excessively harsh and unjust."
Lee appealed the appellate court's ruling again, but the Supreme Court found no issues with the appellate court's judgment.
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