Man Indicted for Sexually Harassing High School Girl and Trying to Frame Wife

A man in his 60s has been indicted for sexually harassing a teenage girl inside a school elevator and attempting to pin the crime on his wife.

The Jeonju District Prosecutors' Office announced that it has indicted a man in his 60s, identified as A, without detention on charges of forcible indecency.

A is accused of sexually harassing the victim, a high school girl identified as B, inside an elevator at a high school in Daejeon in November of last year after telling her, "Girls' skirts must be cold."

At the time of the incident, A, an acquaintance who is a woman identified as C, student B, and B's friend were riding in the elevator together.

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

During the police investigation, A's wife shielded her husband by making ambiguous statements such as claiming she was "standing next to her husband," but in reality, A's wife was not even inside the elevator at the time of the incident.

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

It was revealed that when police officers called A early in the investigation, A asked his female acquaintance C, who was in the elevator with them at the time, to "speak with the police pretending to be my wife."

Complying with A's request, C spoke on the phone with the police, providing A's wife's name, resident registration number, and other details to impersonate her.

Reviewing whether A or A's wife was standing behind the female high school student, the police concluded that A's wife was the suspect based on factors such as her somewhat husband-favoring statements during questioning, and forwarded the case to the prosecution.

Once the prosecution's investigation began, A's wife reversed her statement.

She stated, "I have nothing to do with the incident. My husband asked me to make a false statement."

Given that sex crimes committed by women against women are uncommon, the prosecution believes that A, his wife, and C colluded to fabricate false statements in hopes of securing a police decision not to send the case to trial.

A is reportedly still denying the charges against him.

Reported by Jung Da-eun | Video by Lee Yu-jin | Graphics by Yang Hye-min | Produced by SBS Digital News
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.