A 50-year-old accused of ‘peeping’ after going to the bathroom while drunk… Not indicted due to insufficient evidence

A man in his 50s who was sent to a unisex restroom on charges of peeping into the women's compartment was acquitted.

According to the legal community on the 21st, the Chuncheon District Prosecutors' Office decided not to indict Mr. A, who was transferred on charges of violating the Special Act on the Punishment of Sexual Violence Crimes (invading a public place for sexual purposes) on the 26th of last month due to insufficient evidence.

In December of last year, Mr. A was accused of spying on Mr. B, who was in the women-only section of a bar's unisex restroom, through a gap under the partition. Mr. A was arrested as a red-light criminal and handed over to the prosecution with a recommendation for indictment.

Mr. A denied the charges. He claimed that he was drunk at the time and that he only used the public restroom because he was not feeling well. Regarding the circumstances in which he looked at the women's compartment, he said, "I was dozing in the bathroom when I heard the door to the next compartment open, and the moment I tried to go out, my legs went numb and I fell down. I just happened to bump into Mr. B at that time, and there was no sexual purpose."

The prosecution acknowledged that Mr. A tried to look inside the women's compartment, but it was difficult to conclude that this act alone was intended to satisfy sexual desires from the time he entered the bathroom. As a result of checking the CCTV, it was confirmed that Mr. A stayed in the bathroom for about 40 minutes, which was judged to be consistent with Mr. A's claim that he fell asleep in the bathroom. The prosecution believed that there was no clear evidence to support the charge, considering that other customers at the bar also used the restroom.

Lawyer Jae-young Yoo of Daeryun Law Firm, who represented Mr. A, said, “For a charge related to trespassing into a public place for sexual purposes to be established, the elements must be met, such as satisfaction of sexual desire, a place for multiple use, and failure to comply with a request to leave. Mr. A was able to receive a non-indictment by actively explaining that he entered the restroom before Mr. B and that the reason he entered was to solve physiological problems such as vomiting.”

Reporter Jeong Cheol-wook

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A 50-year-old accused of 'peeping' after going to the bathroom while drunk... Not indicted due to insufficient evidence (Shortcut)