CONTENTS
- 1. Client Facing the Risk of Punishment for Rape
- 2. Differences Between Punishment for Rape and Punishment for Quasi-Rape
- - Even If the Victim Appeared to Consent to Sexual Relations, Can Quasi-Rape Be Established?
- - If There Is No Evidence, Can One Receive an Acquittal?
- - If Charged with Quasi-Rape, Will One Have a Criminal Record?
- 3. Issues in the Case of a Client Facing the Risk of Punishment for Rape
- - The Substance of the Sex Crime Attorney's Assistance
- 4. Result of the Response to Punishment for Rape
1. Client Facing the Risk of Punishment for Rape
This is the account of a client who faced potential punishment for rape and needed the assistance of a sexual offense attorney.
At the time of the incident, the client was taking a walk alone, and recalling a close younger acquaintance who lived in the neighborhood, he called to suggest sharing a meal.
The acquaintance said he was drinking with a close friend and asked whether the client would like to join them for drinks.
The client agreed and went to the bar the acquaintance indicated, where the acquaintance's close friend turned out to be a woman.
The client was not feeling well at the time and had intended not to drink, but he found the woman, whom he had just met, attractive and did not want to spoil the mood, so he ended up drinking with them.
After the first round ended, the client respected the woman's preference to avoid noisy places and moved to a bar with a private room separated from the other patrons.
During the second round, the group reportedly played a kind of “adults-only drinking game,” and because the woman was acting assertively, the client thought she was fairly open about sexual matters.
After the second round ended, the client, the close acquaintance, and the woman agreed to continue with a third round at a motel.
After buying alcohol and snacks at a convenience store, they went to the motel, and while the acquaintance was using the restroom, the client and the woman engaged in intimate physical contact, and the woman also told the client that they should meet often in the future.
Sensing this atmosphere, the acquaintance said he would step out for a moment and left the motel room, and the woman and the client engaged in sexual relations by mutual consent.
After the incident, however, the woman filed a complaint on a charge of quasi-rape, alleging that the client had had sexual intercourse with her by taking advantage of her state of mental incapacity and inability to resist.
The client thus faced potential punishment for quasi-rape and requested the assistance of this firm.
2. Differences Between Punishment for Rape and Punishment for Quasi-Rape
The penalties for the crime of rape and the crime of quasi-rape are at the same level, but they differ in their elements and in the condition of the victim at the time of the incident.
Category | 🔗Rape (Article 297 of the Criminal Act) | Quasi-rape (Article 299 of the Criminal Act) |
Concept | Established where there is sexual intercourse against the victim's will by means of violence or intimidation | Established where there is sexual intercourse by taking advantage of the victim's state of loss of mental capacity or inability to resist |
Elements | ① Existence of violence or intimidation ② Occurrence of an act of sexual intercourse | ① The victim is in a state of loss of mental capacity (alcohol, drugs, unconsciousness, etc.) ② The perpetrator recognizes and takes advantage of this ③ Occurrence of an act of sexual intercourse |
Condition of the victim | Has normal decision-making capacity, but | A state in which free decision-making or resistance is impossible (intoxication, drugs, sleep, loss of consciousness, disability, etc.) |
Level of punishment | Imprisonment for a definite term of three years or more | |
Even If the Victim Appeared to Consent to Sexual Relations, Can Quasi-Rape Be Established?
For quasi-rape, the key is whether the victim was in a state of loss of mental capacity or inability to resist.
For example, if the victim was heavily intoxicated and lacked normal judgment, or was in a state of clouded consciousness due to drugs, then even if outwardly the victim appeared to consent, it may be determined that, in legal terms, there was no valid consent.
That is, if the victim was in a state in which the capacity for free decision-making was lost, quasi-rape may be established.
Therefore, the process of proving, through the circumstances before and after the incident (the content of conversations, the situation at the drinking gathering, CCTV, and witness statements), whether the victim’s consciousness was in fact clear and reasonable judgment was possible is important.
If There Is No Evidence, Can One Receive an Acquittal?
In sexual offense cases, the statement of the victim and the statement of the suspect frequently conflict.
In such cases, the court focuses on examining how specific and consistent the victim's statement is.
Therefore, if there is no physical evidence (clothing, DNA, CCTV footage, KakaoTalk conversations, location records), a conviction may be established on the victim's statement alone, whereas, if the victim's statement is found to contain contradictions or to lack credibility, an acquittal may also be pronounced.
In the end, the absence of evidence does not in itself mean acquittal, and the credibility of the victim's statement becomes the key issue.
Therefore, on the suspect's side, it is important to secure as much material as possible, such as circumstantial material from before and after the incident, text and messenger records, statements of people nearby, and material proving the amount of alcohol consumed, in order to reveal contradictions in the victim's claims.
If Charged with Quasi-Rape, Will One Have a Criminal Record?
Being accused of quasi-rape does not mean that one immediately becomes a person with a criminal record.
A criminal record remains only when the prosecution indicts and guilt is confirmed at trial, so if a non-referral or non-prosecution disposition is obtained at the investigation stage, no criminal record will remain.
Accordingly, if you are accused of quasi-rape, you should respond actively from the early stage and aim for a non-referral or non-prosecution disposition.
3. Issues in the Case of a Client Facing the Risk of Punishment for Rape
The principal issues in this case that the attorney specializing in sexual offense cases reviewed in order to defend the client against possible punishment for quasi-rape were as follows.
▶Whether the victim was in a state of mental or physical incapacity or inability to resist
The woman filed a complaint against the client, asserting that she had been intoxicated, but at issue was the point that she had in fact engaged in normal decision-making and conduct, such as actively taking part in drinking games, accompanying him to a motel by agreement, and making purchases at a convenience store.
The core of the case was therefore whether the victim could be regarded as having been in a state of inability to resist at the time.
▶Whether there was consent to sexual intercourse
The victim asserted that it was ‘sexual intercourse without consent,’ but the suspect has consistently stated that the intercourse was by mutual agreement.
It was therefore decided to argue that the circumstances of moving to the motel, the circumstances in which the victim took part by her own agreement, and the circumstances in which she suggested meeting again right after the intercourse strongly support the existence of consent.
▶The credibility of the victim's statement
There were contradictions between the state of inability to resist asserted by the victim and her actual conduct.
Because the convenience store purchase, the conversation, the movement, and the interaction with her younger sibling showed that the victim was fully able to express her intentions, whether the statement lacked consistency and specificity became an issue.
The Substance of the Sex Crime Attorney's Assistance
▶Defense at the early investigation stage
The sexual offense attorney guided the suspect to maintain consistent statements from the police investigation stage.
In particular, the attorney advised against unnecessary statements or emotional responses, and assisted the suspect in focusing solely on the central assertion that the relationship had been consensual.
▶Rebuttal of the victim's condition
To prove that the victim had not been in a state of incapacity to resist, the sexual offense attorney secured CCTV footage, card payment records, a convenience store purchase receipt, and footage of entry into the motel.
In addition, through the testimony of the accompanying person, the victim's "younger sibling," the attorney emphasized that the victim had held normal conversations and expressed intentions during the drinking session and the journey, seeking to prevent a conviction for quasi-rape.
▶Highlighting the circumstances of consent to sexual relations
The sexual offense attorney emphasized that the victim in this case had voluntarily accompanied the suspect to the motel and had, immediately after the incident, exchanged with the client a conversation about "meeting again."
Through these circumstances, the attorney argued that the relationship had been consensual rather than one in which the suspect had "exploited" the victim's condition.
▶Credibility of the victim's statements
The sexual offense attorney pointed out the parts of the victim's statements that had changed between the early stage of the case and the later investigation, as well as the parts that were inconsistent with the objective circumstances.
In particular, the attorney argued that if the victim's statements were found to be credible, the very fact that the victim had described the circumstances at the time of the incident in detail would instead serve as evidence that the victim had not been in a state of incapacity to resist or mental incapacity at the time.
▶Submission of a defense counsel's opinion
The sexual offense attorney organized the circumstantial evidence supporting that there had been "no state of mental incapacity or incapacity to resist" and that "the relationship had been consensual," and submitted a defense counsel's opinion to the prosecution.
4. Result of the Response to Punishment for Rape
Through the foregoing assistance of the sex crimes attorney, the client received a non-prosecution (no suspicion of crime) disposition and was able to escape the risk of punishment for quasi-rape.
This outcome was possible because professional legal assistance was received from the early stage of the case.
Had the client responded alone, there would have been a high risk of being swayed by the victim’s one-sided statement and being wrongfully punished for quasi-rape.
Sex crime cases, by their nature, lack objective evidence, so the outcome can vary significantly based on the victim’s statement alone.
Accordingly, if you are wrongfully under suspicion, we recommend proceeding with a 🔗legal consultation reservation at the early stage of the case.
This content is based on actual case studies of Daeryun Law LLC with some adaptations, and the copyright belongs to our firm.
Unauthorized reproduction, duplication, or distribution and other copyright infringements may result in legal action under applicable laws.
