Former Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Park Wan-joo was sentenced to one year in prison in the second trial regarding charges of sexually assaulting his aide. Earlier, Park was sentenced to one year in prison in the first trial and was jailed but was recently released on bail. Since the second trial court did not impose a jail sentence, Park was able to maintain his bail.
The Seoul High Court's Criminal Division 12-1 (Chief Judge Hong Ji-young, Bang Wung-hwan, Kim Min-ah) sentenced former lawmaker Park to one year in prison on the charges of forced molestation, ordering him to complete 40 hours of a sexual violence treatment program and prohibiting him from working in institutions related to children, adolescents, and people with disabilities for five years.
The court found former lawmaker Park guilty of the charges of forced molestation and defamation. However, it ruled not guilty for the part of the charge relating to injury from forced molestation and abuse of power.
The court noted, "The victim suffered significant mental shock from former lawmaker Park's forced molestation, having devoted herself to assisting him for about nine years," adding, "Former lawmaker Park has repeatedly claimed that the victim falsely accused him, without making any genuine apology or efforts for victim recovery, which appears to have caused further suffering for the victim due to this attitude toward the crimes."
The court continued, "Considering the relationship between former lawmaker Park and the victim, as well as his attitude after the crime, his culpability is heavy," but it also commented that it took into account the fact that former lawmaker Park had no prior criminal record as a mitigating circumstance.
Former lawmaker Park was indicted in July 2023 for forcibly molesting Mr. A, who was his aide in 2021, causing her to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder and other injuries (charge of injury from forced molestation). According to the prosecution, after Mr. A reported former lawmaker Park to the Democratic Party in April 2023, Park allegedly retaliated against her in her job (obstruction of the exercise of rights) and informed local constituents about the sexual assault incident and about Mr. A (defamation).
The first trial sentenced former lawmaker Park to one year in prison in December last year, imposing pretrial detention due to concerns over evidence tampering and flight risk. At that time, the first trial court acknowledged the charges against former lawmaker Park for forced molestation and defamation as guilty but ruled not guilty on the charges of injury from forced molestation and abuse of power.
Both former lawmaker Park and the prosecution appealed the first trial verdict. Park applied for bail in March while the second trial was ongoing but had his request denied. He then reapplied for bail on July 1, and the court granted it, leading to his release on July 8.
On this day, former lawmaker Park appeared in court with a cast on his right foot and using crutches. The court stated, "Considering former lawmaker Park's health condition and treatment progress, the bail status will be maintained for now."
Meanwhile, after allegations of Park's sexual assault came to light, the Democratic Party held a general meeting in May 2022 and unanimously voted to expel former lawmaker Park.