Supreme Court: "Even if the customer has no intention of prostitution, arranging it can still be punishable"

Undercover Police Officer as Customer Charged with 'Procuring Prostitution'... Acquitted in Second Trial
Supreme Court: Acts Facilitating Prostitution to the Extent of Prostitution Are Punishable Under the Prostitution Mediation Act

The Supreme Court has ruled that the crime of mediating prostitution is established even if the person did not intend to engage in prostitution. This is the first ruling that punishment under the crime of mediating prostitution can be applied if the mediation act was sufficient to lead to prostitution, even if there was no actual intention to engage in prostitution.

The Supreme Court's Second Division (Presiding Justice Jo Jae-yeon) announced on the 23rd that it overturned the lower court's acquittal of Mr. A, who was charged with violating the Act on the Punishment of Acts of Prostitution (including mediation of prostitution), and remanded the case to the Uijeongbu District Court.

Mr. A was prosecuted for hiring six Thai massage therapists in October 2017 and mediating prostitution to an unspecified number of male customers. When indicting Mr. A, the prosecution also included the act of mediating prostitution to police officers disguised as customers for the purpose of a crackdown as part of the criminal charges.

The first trial court found Mr. A guilty of all charges, including mediation of prostitution to the undercover police officers, and sentenced him to a fine of 4 million won. However, the second trial court acquitted him of the mediation charge related to the police officers and dismissed the remaining charges, stating that the criminal charges were not sufficiently specified.

The second trial court stated, "The punishment provision for mediation of prostitution presupposes the realistic possibility of prostitution, so mediation acts toward undercover police officers who have no intention to purchase sex do not constitute the crime of mediating prostitution."

However, the Supreme Court's judgment differed. The Supreme Court held that the crime of mediating prostitution is established if there was mediation conduct sufficient to lead to prostitution.

The court ruled, "For mediation of prostitution to be established, it is sufficient that there was mediation conduct to the extent that prostitution could occur between the parties, and even if the purchaser did not actually intend to purchase sex, the crime of mediating prostitution is established if mediation conduct was performed."

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