Former Police Officer Receives Reduced Sentence for Sexual Assault Charges

A former police officer, identified as A (53), has had his sentence reduced in an appeals court after being convicted of sexual assault against his students. A, who gained fame as a profiler on television, was initially sentenced to 18 months in prison. On July 10, the Jeonju District Court's Criminal Division 2, presided over by Judge Kim Do-hyung, overturned the original sentence and imposed a 10-month prison term instead. The court noted that the victims consistently reported the assaults during investigations and that A had been found guilty of operating an unregistered private hypnosis training academy. The judges acknowledged that A exploited his position as a police officer to commit the offenses, but considered his lack of prior convictions and the relatively minor nature of the assaults when determining the new sentence. A was charged with sexual assault and violations of the Qualification Act for issuing unauthorized hypnosis certifications from 2012 to February 2021. Throughout the investigation and trial, A denied all allegations, claiming he did not commit any sexual assaults and did not run the certification academy. However, the first trial court found him guilty and sentenced him to 18 months in prison.