Supreme Court: "Even if consented to sexual intercourse in a state of complete intoxication and mental incapacity... it is forced molestation"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] Even if a person can walk to a motel, if they are intoxicated to the point where normal judgment or response is impossible, it should not be assumed that they consented to sexual intercourse, the Supreme Court has ruled.

On the 21st, the Supreme Court's 3rd Division (Presiding Justice Min Yusook) overturned the lower court's acquittal in the appeal trial of government official A (28), who was charged with molesting B (18), who was asleep intoxicated at a motel in Gyeonggi Province, and remanded the case to the Suwon District Court.

In 2017, B drank with friends and went to a karaoke room, but lost consciousness while going to the restroom alone. B was so intoxicated that they staggered and collapsed on the floor, and could not remember where they had been drinking.

At the same time, A, who was passing nearby, approached, and the two visited several bars before moving to a motel. According to CCTV footage, B was able to walk alone but appeared heavily intoxicated, staggering while going up and down the motel stairs and leaning their head against the wall.

Later, A was caught on the spot by police who responded to a report from B's mother and boyfriend while molesting B, who was asleep on the bed. B testified that they did not remember meeting A or moving to the motel at all.

The first trial sentenced A to 10 months in prison. The court stated, "The young B was intoxicated, wandering without a coat in winter and unable to find their companions," and "A, a government official, instead of protecting B, took a stranger to a motel and molested them."

The second trial reversed the decision. It was judged that B was not in a state of mental incapacity but experienced a blackout where they did not remember their own actions while conscious, and that A had no intent to molest by exploiting mental incapacity.

However, the Supreme Court pointed out that B was in a 'passing out' state beyond a blackout. If a person temporarily loses consciousness or lacks normal judgment ability due to alcohol-induced sleep, it corresponds to a state of mental incapacity under quasi-rape or quasi-forced molestation charges. The court reasoned, "The fact that the victim experienced an alcohol blackout and does not remember the situation at the time alone cannot be seen as a possibility that they consented to sexual intercourse."

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