Prosecution Appeals Against 'Not Guilty' Verdict for Man Involved in 'Gangrape Role-Play' Case

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin] The prosecution has appealed against a man who was acquitted in the first trial despite committing actual rape after being deceived by a post inducing a ‘rape role-play’ on a random chat application (app).

According to the legal community on the 15th, the Daejeon District Prosecutors’ Office filed an appeal with the 11th Criminal Division of the Daejeon District Court (Chief Prosecutor Kim Yong-chan), which was the first trial court, regarding the case of Oh Mo (39), who was indicted on charges of residential intrusion rape and theft under the Special Act on the Punishment of Sexual Violence Crimes and was acquitted in the first trial.

The prosecution has not disclosed the specific reasons for the appeal, but considering the chat contents with Lee Mo (29), who induced the role-play, and the victim woman’s resistance, it is expected that the prosecution appealed on grounds of factual error and inappropriate sentencing, arguing that Oh could have at least implicitly recognized that it was an actual rape.

Earlier, the 11th Criminal Division of the Daejeon District Court (Chief Judge Kim Yong-chan) on the 4th recognized the guilt of Lee, who was detained and indicted on charges of residential intrusion rape, etc., for inducing a ‘rape role-play’ on a random chat application (app) that led to an actual sexual assault, and sentenced him to 13 years in prison. The court also ordered Lee to complete 80 hours of a sexual violence treatment program and imposed a 10-year employment ban at child and youth-related institutions.

On the other hand, the court acquitted Oh, who committed the actual sexual assault after being deceived by Lee.

At that time, the court stated the reason for the heavy sentence against Lee, saying, “He committed a bizarre crime by using Oh as a tool for rape” and “He showed boldness in actively instructing during the process of raping the victim.”

However, regarding Oh, the court explained the reason for acquittal, saying, “Considering all the evidence, Oh cannot be seen as knowing that his act was rape or tolerating it even if he knew,” and “He seemed to have been deceived by Lee and perceived the sexual intercourse as playing the role of a rapist, so there is insufficient basis to judge the charges as guilty.”

Additionally, the court cited as one reason for acquittal that “Since the victim’s resistance was not strong, there is a possibility that Oh mistook it for acting,” and it is known that the prosecution believes this part also needs to be reconsidered.

Last August, Lee changed his chat app profile to a 35-year-old woman and posted a message saying, “Looking for a man to meet for a role-play where I want to be raped.”

Oh, who saw this post, went to the one-room address given by Lee and actually raped the woman inside. It was revealed that Lee also visited the scene and peeped during the crime.

Investigations showed that Lee, Oh, and the victim were completely strangers to each other.

The prosecution also appealed against Lee on grounds including inappropriate sentencing. Lee also filed an appeal.

The appeals trial for Lee and Oh is scheduled to be held at the Daejeon High Court.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.