Amid speculation about the male idol from a 6-member boy group who was handed over to trial for sexually assaulting and raping a fellow group member, concerns are raised that it could lead to secondary victimization.
According to a report by the Seoul Shinmun on May 31st, the Seoul Central District Court sentenced A, a former idol group member, to 2 years and 6 months in prison and 3 years of probation for rape and indecent act by compulsion on May 30th. He was also ordered to complete 80 hours of sexual therapy and education.
During the trial, A reportedly admitted to indecent act by compulsion but denied the charge of rape, saying, “I was too drunk at that time, so I don’t remember.”
However, the court ruled A as guilty for all charges, seeing that the victim gave consistent and specific testimonies regarding A’s crimes.
A faced accusations of sexually touching, harassing and coercing B, a member from the same group, at least 3 times from 2017 to 2021, in their dorm as well as in the practice room. After the incident, A left the team due to “personal reasons” and stopped activities.
B reported the damage to the Seoul Gangnam Police Station in 2021, and the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office indicted A on charges of rape and indecent act by compulsion last January.
Since then, speculation has continued online about who the male idol group is. In this process, the six-member boy group OnlyOneOf became a victim of rumors. In 2021, OnlyOneOf was reorganized into a six-member group when member Love withdrew. As rumors spread, OnlyOneOf’s agency drew a line, “We release this announcement to correct the false information that is spreading on SNS regarding the prosecution’s exclusive report about an idol member in articles on April 3rd. We would like to inform you that OnlyOneOf is not related to the reported articles at all.“
However, after the report of the first trial, the search for the perpetrator continues again. Netizens guessed A and the above-mentioned male idol group by combining A’s personal information in the previous reports.
According to the Seoul Shinmun’s report, the work that A appeared in when he was active was screened at a recent film festival.
Netizens commented, “If the perpetrator is revealed, the victim will also be revealed“, “The victim should be protected“, “It’ll become secondary victimization to the victim“, “Excessive speculation can result in innocent victims“, “You shouldn’t even wonder who it is“…
Source: Nate
