By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter

A school headmaster was found guilty of taking photographs of a schoolgirl's thigh with his mobile phone camera.

The Seoul Central District Court on Thursday slapped a 1 million won ($1,000) fine on the school principal, identified only by his last name, Lee, on charges of sexual assault.

The incident took place last October when the drunk principal sat next to a high school girl wearing a miniskirt on a bus on his way home one night. He took out his mobile phone and started taking pictures of her thigh, about 20 centimeters above the knee. When the girl tried to stop him, the man allegedly slapped her.

The accused claimed the bus caused him to suddenly lean toward the girl as it turned, accidentally causing him to take a picture of the girl when he actually intended to take a picture of himself.

However, the judge said the photographs the accused took indicated he intended to take pictures of the girl from the start.

``Taking pictures is a different story from peeping because they can be sent to other people and be abused. The accuser's wearing of miniskirt in public does not mean she allowed herself to be a victim of a crime,''' he added.

This is the first time a court has defined ``sneaky photographing'' under the category of sexual assault.

Taking pictures women's body parts on subways and buses has been a headache in society for quite a long time. Pictures are often uploaded online, where tens of thousands of people use them ``inappropriately.''

Related laws stipulate that those who take or exhibit pictures of body parts that could cause lust or shame be imprisoned up to five years or pay up to 10 million won in fines.

However, there was criticism that courts have been reluctant to charge people with the regulation. In March, the Supreme Court sentenced a man who had taken tens of pictures of women's legs at metros not guilty because the court couldn't ``define'' which body part ``would bring sexual shame to a victim'' and the woman was not aware of her photo being taken.

bjs@koreatimes.co.kr