"Stepdaughter of Uncle Not Considered a Relative"... Rapist Avoids Prison Sentence

A man who sexually assaulted his uncle's stepdaughter has avoided prison time following a court ruling that the crime did not constitute an offense against a family relative.

The Cheongju District Court's Criminal Settlement Division 22 sentenced a man in his 20s, identified as A, to two years in prison suspended for four years, applying the charge of quasi-rape under the Criminal Act ex officio instead of the charge of quasi-rape by relative under the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment of Sexual Crimes, under which he was indicted while in detention.

A was put on trial on charges of sexually assaulting B, his uncle's stepdaughter, after drinking with her at his home in Cheongju on the night of November 8 of last year and taking advantage of her falling asleep while intoxicated.

B is the daughter born between a woman in a de facto marriage with A's uncle and her former husband.

The police concluded that B could not be regarded as having a relative relationship with A and forwarded the case applying the charge of quasi-rape under the Criminal Act.

However, the prosecution indicted A by applying the charge of quasi-rape by relative under the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment of Sexual Crimes, judging that B essentially held the status of a cousin.

Quasi-rape by relative, which carries a statutory punishment of a definite prison term of seven years or more, is subject to heavier penalties than quasi-rape under the Criminal Act, which carries a statutory punishment of a definite prison term of three years or more.

For the crime of quasi-rape by relative, even with extenuating circumstances, the lower limit of the sentence can be up to three years and six months in prison.

Because a prison sentence of three years or more makes the suspension of execution impossible, a prison term for A would have been inevitable unless there were separate statutory grounds for mitigation, such as mental or physical infirmity.

The court did not accept A's claim that he committed the crime while in a state of mental or physical infirmity, taking into account the circumstances before and after the crime.

However, the court ruled that this case could not be considered a crime against a relative.

The court stated that someone cannot be deemed a de facto blood relative simply because their living relationships or roles appear similar to those of blood relatives.

It further explained that the uncle and the victim are merely de facto relatives by marriage, and thus the defendant and the victim cannot be viewed as having a de facto blood relative relationship.

The court added that although the nature of the crime is poor because the defendant took advantage of the victim, who was treated like family, while she was intoxicated, it took favorable mitigating factors into consideration, including the fact that the victim does not want him punished and that the defendant is a first-time offender.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
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