High School Student Given Suspended Prison Sentence for Secretly Filming Woman in Skirt

Court: "Opportunity Should Be Given Through Observation and Reformation Attempts Rather Than Social Isolation"

A high school student who secretly filmed women's bodies in public places such as bookstores has been sentenced to a suspended prison term.

The Cheonan Branch of the Daejeon District Court, Criminal Division 1 (Presiding Judge Jeon Kyungho), sentenced A (17), who was indicted and detained on charges of violating the Act on the Protection of Children and Juveniles from Sexual Abuse (production and distribution of sexual exploitation material, etc.), to three years in prison with four years of probation.

The court also ordered 80 hours of sexual violence treatment lectures, probation, and a five-year employment restriction at institutions related to children, juveniles, and people with disabilities.

In April, A was caught at a bookstore in Cheonan after a citizen reported, "There is a perpetrator taking photos only of women wearing skirts." Police secured multiple videos of victims, including photos of female students from the same school, from A's mobile phone and arrested him on the spot under current law.

Investigation revealed that over the past year, A had secretly filmed under women's skirts and other areas in public places on more than 70 occasions, leading to his indictment and detention.

The court stated, "He had already been referred to juvenile protection for a similar crime and was on trial, yet committed the offense again without any sense of remorse or guilt, which makes the nature of the crime severe. The victims are also expressing distress."

However, the court explained the sentencing by saying, "The severity of the illegal footage is not high, many victims are not identifiable, and there is no evidence that the footage was distributed externally. Since he appears to have spent time in detention for self-reflection, it is deemed more appropriate to give him a chance to become a proper member of society through observation and correction rather than isolating him by imposing an actual prison sentence."