High School Student Allegedly Puts Bodily Fluid in Teacher’s Tumbler—Could He Face Forcible Molestation Charges?

[Financial News] Police are reviewing whether to charge a teenager who allegedly broke into an elementary school classroom, put bodily fluid in a female teacher’s tumbler, and fled with forcible molestation.
According to News 1 on the 14th, Seogwipo Police Station is reviewing the legal grounds for applying sex-crime charges to a high school student identified as A, who was booked on suspicion of trespassing, property damage, and other offenses.
Student A is suspected of secretly entering a classroom at an elementary school in Seogwipo City, Jeju, on April 28, putting bodily fluid in Teacher B’s tumbler, and fleeing.
However, more than a month later, on June 5, Student A allegedly broke into Teacher B’s classroom again, urinated on a chair used by teachers, and fled.
Student A reportedly admitted to all the allegations during a police investigation, but said, in substance, "I committed the act because I was on my way to the bathroom."
Previously, police had not applied sex-crime charges in such cases and had charged suspects only with property damage. Under current law, there are insufficient grounds for punishment as a sex crime when there is no physical contact.
Accordingly, police are investigating Student A on suspicion of trespassing and property damage.
However, a recent Supreme Court of Korea precedent could change the outcome in cases like this. On July 9, the Supreme Court of Korea ruled, in a case involving a person who secretly put his bodily fluid in a female café owner’s coffee and made her drink it, that forcible molestation charges could be applied.
The lower court in that case had acquitted the defendant of forcible molestation. The Supreme Court of Korea, however, stated, "The act of mixing bodily fluid into the victim’s coffee and making her drink it constitutes the exercise of physical force against the victim’s will and an act of molestation that infringes on the victim’s sexual freedom." It added, "For forcible molestation, the offense is established not only when the perpetrator assaults or threatens the other person, but also when the assault itself constitutes molestation."
The court further ruled, "The assault in this context need not be sufficient to suppress the other person’s will; it includes the exercise of physical force against that person’s will." It continued, "Considering that the victim suffered extreme physical and psychological distress after drinking the coffee, the act could constitute assault for purposes of forcible molestation. Making someone consume bodily fluid against their will, in itself, causes sexual shame."
After completing its legal review based on the Supreme Court of Korea precedent and other considerations, police plan to make a final decision on whether to apply forcible molestation charges and refer the case to prosecutors.
[email protected] Kim Soo-yeon Reporter