(image: Korea Bizwire)
SEOUL, Oct. 29 (Korea Bizwire) — A man apprehended for taking illegal photos on a bus of a woman wearing leggings was found not guilty on appeal.
The Uijeongbu District Court in Gyeonggi Province announced on Monday that a man was found not guilty, reversing the lower court’s decision.
The suspect allegedly took approximately eight seconds of video of a female onboard the bus using his smartphone before being caught on-site and handed over to the police.
The lower court decided that the videotaped area of the woman’s body can cause sexual desire or embarrassment, and judged that the man was guilty.
In contrast, the appeals court referred to a Supreme Court decision in 2016 and looked into whether certain parts of the woman’s body were being emphasized by the dress she was wearing.
The female victim was wearing a rather loose workout shirt that came down to the side of the her hips, black leggings covering all the way down to her ankles, and running shoes.
The upper area of her neck, hands, and ankles were the only parts of her body left exposed.
The suspect was sitting across from the bus door where she was standing, taking video of what he was seeing in front of him, without taking it from a special angle or using an unusual method.
The video didn’t zoom in on the woman’s behind. “Leggings are worn by many as everyday attire, and the victim was also onboard public transportation wearing them,” said the appeals court.
“We fail to see that she could be a target of sexual desire only because she is a young female who was wearing leggings.”
“We didn’t see that the victim was sexually embarrassed, and she didn’t want the suspect to be punished,” the court added.
H. M. Kang (hmkang@koreabizwire.com)
