"Just Watched the House"…30s Man Peeping 20s Woman's House and Searching Her Packages

A man in his 30s who was peering into the home of a woman in her 20s living in the same apartment through a window and rummaging through her delivery boxes was sentenced to prison with a suspended sentence.

The man was on probation for residential intrusion and rape, and the crime was caught on a closed-circuit television (CCTV) installed outside the victim’s home, who had been feeling anxious.

On the 11th, Im Young-sil, chief judge of the 9th Criminal Division at the Gwangju District Court, announced that A (36, male), who was indicted for violating the Act on the Punishment of Stalking Crimes, was sentenced to six months in prison with a two-year suspended sentence.

(This photo is not directly related to the article) [Photo source=Pixabay]

A was charged with stalking B, a woman in her 20s living in an apartment in Seo-gu, Gwangju, from September to November 2021. He was accused of looking into B’s home through the window from the hallway, lingering in front of her door for 5 to 10 minutes, and rummaging through her deliveries.

In October of the same year, he continuously watched the CCTV and door lock installed by the victim, and about two weeks later, he again loitered in front of the victim’s door, watching inside the home. Feeling extreme anxiety, B reported to the police and eventually moved to a new residence.

It was revealed that A was on probation for violating the Special Act on the Punishment of Sexual Crimes (residential intrusion and rape).

A denied the charges, claiming that he went to the victim’s house to smoke and checked the deliveries because there had been delivery mistakes before. A and B did not know each other at all.

During the trial, A’s side argued, “Merely watching the victim’s house does not constitute stalking.”

The court did not accept A’s claim.

Judge Im Young-sil stated, “The Stalking Punishment Act was enacted to protect victims from the early stages of crime and to prevent stalking from escalating into more serious crimes,” adding, “The ‘watching act’ under the Stalking Punishment Act does not necessarily have to target a person.”

She continued, “The CCTV footage and testimony submitted by the victim support credibility. The victim likely felt considerable anxiety and fear without knowing who A was. The crime was committed during the probation period for a sexual offense, so the culpability is not light,” and explained, “Considering all sentencing factors, including that the crime occurred four times and did not escalate beyond watching the residence to more active stalking behavior.”

According to Article 2 of the Stalking Punishment Act, ‘stalking behavior’ is defined as ‘acts that cause anxiety or fear to the other party by performing certain acts against the will of the other party without justifiable reason toward the other party or their cohabitants or family members.’

The Stalking Punishment Act specifies various stalking behaviors, including ▲approaching, following, or blocking the path of the other party ▲waiting or watching at or near places where the other party lives, works, or regularly spends time ▲sending objects, writings, words, symbols, sounds, pictures, videos, or images via mail, phone, fax, or information and communication networks ▲delivering objects directly or through a third party or leaving objects at or near the residence ▲damaging objects at or near the residence, among others.

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