Police Officer Sentenced to Prison for 'Ji-in Neung-yok' of Fellow Female Officer in Random Chat App

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Seung-yoon] A senior officer at a frontline police station in Seoul was sentenced to prison for repeatedly making sexually harassing remarks about female colleagues through a random chat application and exposing their phone numbers to induce sexual violence crimes.

On the 28th, Shin Jin-hwa, presiding judge of Criminal Division 6 at the Seoul Western District Court, announced that he sentenced Sergeant A (demoted to Lieutenant) of a certain police substation in Seoul to eight months in prison and ordered his immediate detention on charges of violating the Information and Communications Network Act and the Special Act on the Punishment of Sexual Crimes (obscenity using communication media).

The court also ordered A to complete an 80-hour sexual violence treatment program and imposed a three-year employment restriction on institutions related to children and adolescents as well as welfare facilities for the disabled.

The court stated, "This is a blatant form of so-called 'jinin-neungyok' (defamation of acquaintances)," adding, "Not only did he trample on the victims' dignity, but he also exposed their personal information to countless others afterward," and "The victims consistently demand severe punishment for the defendant."

According to the court, A obtained personal information about junior female officers through internal police personnel lists, then distributed it online, fabricating that the victims themselves engaged in obscene behavior. There was also evidence that the victims' messenger profile photos were digitally altered.

Participants in the random chat rooms who obtained the phone numbers disclosed by A were found to have sent sexually explicit messages and photos to the victims. When the victims changed their phone numbers, A redistributed the new numbers, and similar harm continued. It is reported that A led these crimes over nine months starting last year.

After receiving reports from the victims, the Cyber Investigation Unit of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency identified A based on communication records. Last month, A was demoted by one rank through a disciplinary committee decision. If the prison sentence is finalized, A will be automatically retired.

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