Man accused of forcibly molesting a woman he met for the first time by holding her hand... Law: Not guilty due to “no intent”

Refutation of the claim that “I grabbed his hand by surprise” by saying, “I only touched him because I was worried about my hand shaking.”
The court said, “There were actual symptoms of trembling hands, and there were no special features before or after the act… the intent to molest was not proven.”

A man accused of making surprise physical contact with a woman he met for the first time was found not guilty in court.

On the 18th of last month, the Seoul Central District Court found Mr. A, who was indicted on charges of forcible harassment, not guilty. Mr. A was accused of sexually assaulting B, a woman he met through SNS in 2024, by suddenly holding her hand while they were talking offline for the first time.

The prosecution believed that Mr. A's charges were acknowledged and requested a summary order of a fine of 5 million won, which the court also accepted. However, Mr. A objected and requested a formal trial.

During the trial, Mr. A completely denied the charges. At the time of the incident, Mr. B's hands were shaking violently, and he only held his hands to calm them down.

The court found Mr. A not guilty. The court said, “The place where the incident occurred was an open road with a sign saying ‘CCTV recording in progress.’” “There were many people passing by, so the actions of the two people were sufficiently identifiable.”

He added, “At the time of the incident, the victim actually had symptoms of shaking his hands, and there was nothing unusual about the actions or reactions of the two people before and after the specific point when the defendant held his hand. Considering this, there is ample room to believe that the defendant touched the victim’s body out of concern for her condition, so it is difficult to say that the intention of the molestation was proven.”

Meanwhile, lawyer Seo Bong-ha of Daeryun Law Firm, who represented Mr. A, said, “As a result of analysis of the CCTV footage, the location was an environment where molestation could not have occurred as it was on the main road where about 30 passers-by and many vehicles passed by for 10 minutes, so it was an environment where molestation could not occur.” explained. jckim99@sportsseoul.com

Reporter Kim Jong-cheol

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Man accused of forcibly molesting a woman he met for the first time by holding her hand... Law: Not guilty due to “no intent” (Shortcut)