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Busan man acquitted of molestation in unanimous jury decision

Published: 03 Jun. 2025, 17:36

Close up of a court mallet [GETTY IMAGES BANK]

A man in his 60s indicted for molesting a young boy was acquitted in a recent jury trial.

The Busan District Court announced on Tuesday that it had acquitted the suspect who had been on trial on charges of violating the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment of Sexual Crimes.

The court accepted the unanimous not-guilty verdict reached by all seven jurors.

The suspect was accused of grabbing the chest of a nine-year-old boy in front of a restroom on the first floor of a large supermarket in Busan’s Nam District at around 10:30 a.m. on Aug. 29 last year.

At the time, the suspect was at the supermarket with his wife and son and had briefly stopped by the restroom.

Surveillance footage shown in court showed the suspect’s hand making contact with the boy’s body for one to two seconds. However, the camera angle only showed the boy’s back, making it difficult to identify the exact area the suspect’s hand touched.

Prosecutors argued that the boy’s continued gaze toward the elevator, where his mother was standing, and avoidance of eye contact with the suspect, suggested he had been startled by a sudden molestation and couldn’t face the perpetrator.

The suspect denied the charge, saying he had been separated from his wife for a long time and had missed seeing his own son grow up. He said he found the boy, who was alone, pitiful and merely attempted to touch his cheek.

“I had recently reunited with my wife and went to the supermarket to buy steak because our son said he wanted it,” the suspect said. “A large supermarket is crowded with people, and my family was nearby — it’s not the kind of place where someone would form the intent to commit a crime for sexual gratification.”

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.
BY HAN YOUNG-HYE [[email protected]]