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

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

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

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

However, the police who investigated the case identified A's wife, rather than A, as the suspect and forwarded the case to the prosecution.

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

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

Taking over the case, the prosecution conducted a detailed forensic examination of seized mobile phones belonging to the individuals involved and confirmed circumstances indicating that A had framed his wife as the culprit.

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

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

Subsequently, for some reason, A's wife made statements during her summons interrogation in a tone that seemed to help her husband, and it was revealed that the police believed this and forwarded the case to the prosecution.

A's wife was recently cleared of charges after the prosecution's supplementary investigation revealed that her husband was the real culprit.

A prosecution official said, "Because the statements of the people involved in the case were unconvincing, we reexamined the case based on the results of the forensic analysis of seized mobile phones," adding, "While we cannot disclose specific details due to concerns over secondary victimization from sex crimes, we confirmed circumstances where the defendant continuously lied from the early stages of the investigation and brought charges."

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