Man gets 7 years as washing machine reflection captures sexual assault

Lid of a drum washing machine / gettyimagebank

A man in his 20s who had denied committing sexual assault was sentenced to seven years in prison after footage reflecting the crime scene on a washing machine lid was accepted as critical evidence.

The Chuncheon branch of the Seoul High Court presided over by Judge Lee Eun-hye, sentenced the 24-year-old man to seven years in prison on charges including rape, unlawful confinement and indecent assault.

The court also ordered a seven-year ban on employment at institutions involving minors and people with disabilities, along with a seven-year electronic monitoring order.

He was indicted for raping his then-girlfriend six times between March and April last year. According to the indictment, the 24-year-old confined the woman for several hours and sexually assaulted her after she expressed her intention to end their relationship.

The breakup followed her discovery of sexually explicit photos and videos of other women on the man's phone.

He initially denied all charges during the prosecution's investigation. However, the woman submitted a 39-minute video as evidence. Although only two minutes showed the two directly, prosecutors discovered that the remaining 37 minutes captured the assault reflected on the plastic lid of a washing machine.

After enhancing and analyzing the footage, investigators confirmed the man's actions. Confronted with the evidence, he eventually confessed to the crime, leading to additional charges being filed.

At the time of the indictment, he was already on trial for a separate case in which he allegedly raped a former partner in 2022 and threatened to distribute sex videos.

He was also charged with statutory rape involving a minor who was below the legal age of consent.

Although the man was in custody during the trial and denied parts of the charges, the court found him guilty on all counts.

This article from the Hankook Ilbo, a sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.