Air Force Female Sergeant Perpetrator... First Trial 164 Days After Crime

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] The Air Force non-commissioned officer accused of sexually harassing a female non-commissioned officer will stand trial. This is the first hearing held 1.64 million seconds after the crime.

According to the Ministry of National Defense on the 13th, the Ordinary Military Court will hold the first trial of Staff Sergeant Jang, who was detained and indicted on charges including forcible molestation causing injury to a soldier and retaliation threats under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes, at 9:30 a.m. on the 13th.

The military prosecution believes that Staff Sergeant Jang's actions constitute retaliation threats under the special law against the female non-commissioned officer. On March 2, after an evening gathering with unit members, Jang repeatedly and forcibly molested Junior Sergeant Lee in the vehicle returning to the base despite Lee's repeated refusals. Afterwards, Jang followed Sergeant Lee and said things to the effect of "I'm sorry," "Let's pretend it never happened," and "Are you going to report me? Go ahead and report!" He also sent messages implying suicide, saying things like "I keep thinking I should die all day."

The Air Force Military Police and military prosecution initially investigated Staff Sergeant Jang without detention, but after the victim took an extreme measure at the end of May and the case was reported in the media, the Ministry of National Defense prosecution took over the case from the Air Force on June 1 and began reinvestigation.

Staff Sergeant Jang, who is currently detained in the Ministry of National Defense Support Group's pretrial detention center, is expected to attend the trial. It is also known that the victim Junior Sergeant Lee's father plans to observe the trial.

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