Probation Sentenced to 30s for Asking High School Girl to Date with "Cute, Pretty" Comments

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] A man in his 30s who was charged with obtaining the phone number of a teenage female student and repeatedly calling and texting her to demand a relationship was sentenced to a suspended prison term in the first trial.

According to the legal community on the 6th, Judge Junhyuk Kim of the Criminal Division 5 at the Seoul Central District Court sentenced Choi (36), who was indicted without detention on charges of violating the Information and Communications Network Act, to six months in prison with a two-year suspension. The court pointed out, "The defendant has a history of committing the same crime and has been fined several times, yet he repeated the offense," and added, "It is questionable whether he sincerely reflects on his wrongdoing." However, the court stated, "Considering the absence of prior punishments beyond suspended sentences and other sentencing conditions, the sentence was determined."

Choi was brought to trial on charges of repeatedly calling or texting A (then 16 years old, female), a high school student, from April to May last year, saying "You're cute," "You're pretty," and "Let's be close," causing fear or anxiety. It was investigated that he obtained A's number by borrowing a phone at a bus stop in Suseo-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, where he met her. When A refused to answer calls, Choi repeatedly called dozens of times using caller ID blocking. Even when A's family or friends answered the calls and told him "Do not contact," Choi continued to reach out, and only stopped after A said she would "report to the police."

In court, Choi denied the charges, stating, "I thought the victim agreed to date me, so I contacted her, and when I couldn't reach her, I called and sent messages to confirm." The court judged this claim, stating, "The victim did not agree to date during the initial call and sent text messages asking the defendant not to contact her. Considering this, it is recognized that the defendant clearly knew the victim's intention but continued to attempt contact."

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