"Animal Hospital Neglecting Bleeding Puppy" False Report Leads to Prison Sentence for 20s Adult

Dissatisfied with Inadequate Sexual Harassment Response, Committed Crime
Animal Hospital Closed Due to Damage from Manipulated Video

A former employee in their 20s who, dissatisfied after their sexual harassment claims were dismissed, reported a manipulated video to a media outlet, causing an animal hospital to close, was sentenced to prison.

On the 6th, according to the legal community, Judge Jang Su-jin of the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 7 sentenced Mr. A, who was indicted for violating the Information and Communications Network Act (defamation) and obstruction of business, to eight months in prison. However, Mr. A was not detained in court.

Seoul Central District Court.
Photo by Yonhap News

Mr. A was charged with filming a manipulated video that made it appear as if a pet dog hospitalized at the animal hospital was vomiting blood and reporting it to a broadcasting company.

Additionally, in the early morning of July 7, 2021, Mr. A showed a gauze soaked with red povidone solution to the on-duty veterinarian, saying, "(The dog) is vomiting blood. This is the fourth time," and filmed a video that suggested the veterinarian took no particular action.

Two days later, he reported this video to a reporter from a broadcasting company, stating in an interview, "When the dog vomited blood for the fourth time, I told the veterinarian, but they said 'It will be fine' and went back to sleep."

Ultimately, the broadcast included a critical tone toward the animal hospital, and after the broadcast, the animal hospital closed down.

Investigations revealed that Mr. A had demanded disciplinary action, claiming sexual harassment by another on-duty veterinarian, but when the hospital only hired a labor attorney to conduct a fact-finding investigation, he became dissatisfied and planned the crime.

Initially, the prosecution filed a summary indictment against Mr. A with a fine of 5 million won, but the court referred the case to a formal trial process, resulting in a prison sentence.

The court stated the reason for the sentence, saying, "The method of crime was very malicious, as false facts were stated through a combination of a video filmed using manipulated props and an interview. It was reported on terrestrial broadcast news, so the impact and potential for dissemination were very large, and serious damage occurred, including the closure of the animal hospital after the crime."

It added, "Although the victim expressed refusal to accept compensation, efforts were made to restore damages, such as criminally depositing 10 million won, and it was considered that not all damages were caused solely by this crime."

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