Man in His 60s Indicted for Molesting High School Girl in Elevator and Framing Wife

A man in his 60s who sexually harassed a high school girl and tried to pin the blame on his wife has been caught following a supplementary prosecution investigation.

The Criminal Division 1 of the Jeonju District Prosecutors' Office Gunsan Branch (headed by Senior Prosecutor Jin Kyeong-seob) announced today (August 18) that it has indicted Mr. A without detention on charges of violating the Act on the Protection of Children and Youth against Sexual Abuse (Forcible Indecency).

Mr. A is accused of visiting a high school in Daejeon on November 4 of last year and touching a high school girl, B, inappropriately inside an elevator.

However, the police investigating the case identified his wife, rather than Mr. A, as the suspect and forwarded the case to the prosecution.

This happened because Mr. A's wife made an ambiguous statement during the police investigation, saying, "(I) was next to my husband."

In reality, Mr. A's wife was not even inside the elevator of that high school at the time of the incident.

Upon receiving the case, the prosecution conducted a meticulous forensic examination of the seized cell phones of the individuals involved and confirmed circumstances indicating that Mr. A had framed his wife as the culprit.

When police officers called him early in the investigation, Mr. A asked a female acquaintance who had been in the elevator with him at the time, "Please talk to the police acting like my wife."

He fabricated false facts as if he and his wife had been together at the scene.

Subsequently, for some reason, Mr. A's wife gave statements during her summons that seemed to shield her husband, and it was revealed that the police believed this and transferred the case to the prosecution.

Mr. A's wife was recently cleared of charges after the prosecution's supplementary investigation revealed her husband to be the true culprit.

An official from the prosecution stated, "Because the statements from those involved in the case were unconvincing, we reexamined the case based on the results of the forensic examination of the seized cell phones." They added, "While we cannot disclose specific details due to concerns over secondary victimization from the sex crime, we confirmed circumstances showing that the defendant continuously lied from the early stages of the investigation and have filed the indictment."

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.