In a chilling case from 2011, a 48-year-old male CEO of an entertainment agency was accused of having raped a 15-year-old girl, resulting in her pregnancy. The first and second trials found him guilty of rape, luring a minor, and illegal filming. However, the Supreme Court acquitted him
She had been injured in a leg from a traffic accident and went to the hospital, where she met him. He proposed being a trainee to her. He also suggested showing her a movie premiere in order to help her understand more about the industry and she believed him and followed him to his car at the hospital. There, she was raped for the first time.
On the other hand, he claimed that he first had sex with her about 4-5 months after they met. However, a video recovered from a tablet PC showed sex occurring while she was wearing hospital clothes. Since she was hospitalized at the hospital for about two weeks, his claim of sex 4-5 months later is hard to accept.
Later on, she discovered she was pregnant. She came from a poor family and knew they couldn’t afford her childbirth expenses. A diligent student who excelled academically, she ran away from home and went to his house. After giving birth, she immediately reported him to the authorities. However, the Supreme Court ruled that she must have loved him, based on a letter she sent him while pregnant. She also turned to him in her time of pregnancy.
She had a different story.
“He demanded that I write him letters as if we were lovers. If I didn’t, he would get extremely angry.”
She also ran numerous errands for his sister while he was in prison in the past. During this time, she discovered that he had numerous prior criminal convictions. Among them was an assault conviction, which made her fear that she too could be assaulted if she didn’t obey him. However, he used her letters as evidence to claim, “We loved each other. I will continue to love her in the future,” and ultimately received the outcome he wanted. After receiving a not guilty verdict, he abruptly turned against her and sued her multiple times.
Controversially, the judge who granted him the acquittal is currently the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of South Korea.