"Victim Did Not Act Accordingly" Sexual Harassment Acquittal... Supreme Court Puts the Brakes

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] The Supreme Court has intervened in a ruling that acquitted a sexual harassment perpetrator on the grounds that there was "behavior not typical of a victim."

On the 16th, the Supreme Court's 3rd Division (Presiding Justice Min Yusook) overturned the appellate court's acquittal in the appeal trial of Mr. A, who was charged with forcible molestation, and remanded the case to the Changwon District Court.

Mr. A, an employee of the convenience store subsidiary development department, was charged in April 2017 with molesting convenience store owner Mr. B, whom he met through work, by touching his body. It was investigated that Mr. A entered behind the cash register when he saw Mr. B working alone and touched Mr. B's head while talking about work. Despite Mr. B pushing him away to express refusal, Mr. A continued the molestation.

The basis for the acquittal was the convenience store's closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage. In the video, the victim avoided physical contact but was seen smiling occasionally. The first trial found Mr. A guilty and sentenced him to a fine of 4 million won, whereas the appellate court acquitted him, stating that it could not recognize that Mr. A forcibly molested the victim. The appellate court said, "The defendant's behavior appears to be playful in a close relationship of a rational nature."

However, the Supreme Court stated, "The circumstances cited by the lower court indicate that the victim did not exhibit 'typical victim behavior,' which is not reasonable in terms of legal principles." It added, "The victim showed attitudes of avoiding or rejecting the defendant's physical contact, which is possible given the victim's position in a relationship where direct resistance at work is difficult."

The court said, "If there were issues with the credibility of Mr. B's testimony, a careful judgment should have been made through additional evidence investigation," and "The appellate court's ruling, which rejected the evidential value without such measures, was erroneous," and thus remanded the case.

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