Suncheon Attorney | Assisting a Client Charged With Imitative Rape and Related Offenses, Concluding the Case With a Non-Referral Decision

Imitative rape refers to the act of using violence or threats to insert a sexual organ into a part of the victim's body other than the genitals, such as the mouth or anus, or to insert another object such as a finger, against the victim's will. This is a concept distinct from the act of directly inserting a sexual organ, as in the case of 🔗rape.

Imitative rape is committed when a person ▲uses assault or intimidation and ▲inserts a sexual organ into the inside of a body part other than the genitals, such as the mouth or anus, or inserts a part of the body such as a finger, or a tool, into the genitals or anus.

If imitative rape is established, it is punishable by imprisonment for a definite term of at least two years, and an attempt may also be punished.

🔗Indecent act by compulsion refers to the act of committing an indecent act after using assault or intimidation to make the other party's resistance difficult.

Surprise molestation, in which the assault itself is recognized as the indecent act, is also included in indecent act by compulsion.

An indecent act refers to an act carried out with the motive of arousing or satisfying sexual desire that gravely harms normal feelings of sexual shame, and it means nearly any act that causes the other party to feel sexual shame.

The case law holds that it "means an act that objectively causes sexual shame or disgust in an ordinary person, runs counter to sound notions of sexual morality, and infringes the victim's sexual freedom. Whether an act falls within this category must be determined carefully, taking into comprehensive account the victim's intent, gender, and age, the prior relationship between the actor and the victim, the circumstances leading up to the act, the specific manner of the act, the surrounding objective situation, and the notions of sexual morality of the time."

In the case of indecent act by compulsion, the penalty is imprisonment for up to 10 years or a fine of up to 15 million won.

The attorney argued that the physical contact in question was a consensual matter.

The client and the complainant had met several times on good terms.

On the day of the incident, after finishing their date, the client took the complainant home to her doorstep.

Before parting, they embraced and had some physical contact.

Even after the client returned home, the two exchanged text messages expressing fondness for each other.

If, as the complainant claimed, the physical contact had been forced by the client, the two could not have shared friendly feelings after the incident.

For the client, the attorney organized the content of the text messages exchanged after the incident and submitted them as evidence.

To rebut the imitative rape charge alleged by the complainant, the attorney submitted the dashcam installed in the car as evidence.

The complainant claimed that the imitative rape had taken place inside the client's car.

However, an examination of the audio file recorded by the dashcam shows that the complainant made no indication of refusal whatsoever and that, on the contrary, the act appears to have been carried out by mutual consent.

The attorney submitted the dashcam as evidence and rebutted the complainant's claim.