Alleged statutory rape of a minor met online

Statutory rape of a minor

Generally, sexual crimes protect the right to sexual self-determination, so whether an act is against the victim's will determines whether a crime is established.

For example, for rape to be established, there must be violence or intimidation of a degree that suppresses the victim's resistance or makes it considerably difficult.

However, in the case of young minors, because they lack the capacity for sexual self-determination, to protect them, even if sexual intercourse is not against the minor's will, that is, even if there was no violence or intimidation and the minor explicitly consented, there is a need to punish the perpetrator.

Accordingly, under our Criminal Act, even with consensual intercourse, if a person has sexual intercourse with a minor under 13 years of age, or if a person 19 years of age or older has sexual intercourse with a minor between 13 and under 16 years of age, they are punished under the crime of statutory rape of a minor.

Recently, Lawyer Joo Youngjae obtained a decision of no suspicion (insufficient evidence) in a case of statutory rape of a minor, which I will introduce.

Facts

The client, an 18-year-old, was using Twitter at home in the early morning of a cold winter day when he happened to start chatting with a woman (hereinafter referred to as 'the victim') who claimed to be 16 years old. The victim asked the client to meet her right away.

Out of curiosity, the client went to meet the victim. The victim said she had run away from home and had nowhere to go, asking for help. The client looked for a jjimjilbang, but none were open, so he eventually booked a motel for her.

After booking the motel room, the client was about to return home, but the victim said she was scared and asked him to stay with her for a while. He followed her into the motel room, and while talking, they developed feelings and had sexual intercourse.

However, it was later discovered that the victim was actually 12 years old. When the victim's parents learned of the relationship, they reported the client for statutory rape of a minor.

Having just entered university and facing a serious sexual crime charge, the client urgently sought help from Lawyer Joo Youngjae.

Lawyer Joo Youngjae's assistance

Lawyer Joo Youngjae argued that although the client did have sexual intercourse with the victim, he believed at the time that she was 16, so there was no criminal intent. Along with a written opinion, he submitted evidence of innocence, including SNS messages exchanged between the client and the victim, screenshots of the victim's SNS profile, and a transcript of a conversation with the victim after the incident.

Investigating agency's decision

Ultimately, the prosecutor accepted Lawyer Joo Youngjae's argument and issued a decision of no suspicion (insufficient evidence) on the grounds that there was insufficient evidence that the client knew the victim's actual age. As the complainant did not appeal, the case was closed.