Supreme Court Confirms 5-Year Sentence for Court-Appointed Lawyer in 40s for 'Stalking and Arson Threats'

Fifteen Instances of Stalking Due to Affection for Court-Appointed Lawyer

A man in his 40s who stalked his court-appointed public defender and threatened to set fire to her office was sentenced to five years in prison.

Supreme Court, Seocho-dong, Seoul.

The Supreme Court's First Division (Presiding Justice Oh Kyung-mi) announced on the 15th that it upheld the original sentence of five years in prison for Mr. Yeo, who was charged with violating the Stalking Punishment Act, attempted special coercion, attempted arson of a general building, and obstruction of business.

Mr. Yeo was indicted for stalking 15 times between August and September last year by visiting, sending text messages, and calling the office of a female lawyer who had previously served as his court-appointed public defender.

Investigations revealed that Mr. Yeo intended to date the victim and had been searching for her information since 2021, after his treatment and custody ended.

Mr. Yeo is also accused of coercion for visiting the lawyer's office carrying a plastic container holding 10 liters of gasoline and a lighter, threatening, "If you don't come to the office, the office will be set on fire."

The first and second trials found Mr. Yeo guilty of stalking and related charges and sentenced him to five years in prison. However, he was acquitted of the charge of threatening to set fire to the office (attempted arson of a general building).

The lower courts judged, "Considering that he sent a message threatening to set fire to the office and immediately left the building to wait outside, it is difficult to infer the intent to commit arson." The Supreme Court also agreed with the lower courts' judgment.

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