“I just left because it smelled” Current police officer who visited prostitution establishment found not guilty in second trial

Seoul Eastern District Court Criminal Appeal Division 1-2 (Presiding Judge Kim Chang-hyun) overturned the first trial that sentenced Mr. A (28), who was indicted on charges of violating the Prostitution Punishment Act, to a fine of 1.5 million won and found him not guilty.

In January 2021, Mr. A, who was a college student at the time, was indicted on charges of prostitution with a foreign woman for 180,000 won at a prostitution establishment in Suji-gu, Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do. At trial, Mr. A denied the charges, saying, “I visited the place thinking it was just a massage parlor,” and “I just left because there was an unpleasant smell in the room.”

The first trial court found that it was correct to engage in prostitution, considering the text messages exchanged with Mr. A’s business associates and the amount paid.

The court took into account the fact that Mr. A deposited 180,000 won to the business manager and that it is difficult to view the text message from the business manager as a simple massage reservation.

In addition, it was found that a note saying ‘good guy’ was written in the business ledger along with Mr. A’s personal information. The court also took this into account and found him guilty. It was discovered that this business had written a note in its ledger labeling customers who had problems, such as making burdensome demands, as “bad guys.”

However, the second trial court overturned the original trial, saying, “It is difficult to say that it has been sufficiently proven that there was sexual intercourse between the defendant and the prostitute.”

https://n.news.naver.com/article/023/0003869416