[Sportschosun, Lee Ji-hyun] A woman of Brazilian nationality who visited BTS member Jungkook's home dozens of times and trespassed was given a suspended prison sentence.
According to the legal community on the 22nd, Judge Park Ji-won of the Seoul Western District Court's Criminal Division 1 sentenced the woman, identified only as A, to one year in prison with a two-year suspended sentence on the 8th of last month. She had been indicted while in custody on charges of violating the Act on the Punishment of Stalking Crimes and trespassing.
A is accused of stalking Jungkook by visiting his home in Yongsan District, Seoul, 22 times over about a month from December 7 to 28 last year, lingering nearby or waiting there.
Investigators found that on the first day of the offense, she rang the doorbell 13 times in a row over about 20 minutes. On December 12, she pressed it 133 times. The next day, December 13, she entered through a side gate while a delivery rider was coming and going, then unlawfully made her way into the interior of the home.
Although A was arrested at the scene, she did not stop even after being released during the police investigation with a warning to stay away.
Police issued an emergency protective order on December 28 last year, prohibiting A from coming within 100 meters of Jungkook or his home. However, she reportedly returned to the area around his home on January 4 this year and repeated the stalking behavior by leaving photos and printed materials there.
The court said in explaining the sentence, "The defendant committed stalking crimes even after being arrested in the act, warned by police during questioning, and released," adding, "The victim wants the defendant to be severely punished."
The court also considered several mitigating factors, including that A appeared to have acted in an attempt to convey her feelings to Jungkook rather than with intent to harm him, that her failure to comply with the emergency protective order was relatively minor, and that she did not enter the actual living quarters inside the home.
It also noted that A had already been detained for about three months over the case and that the risk of reoffending was not considered high, given that she is expected to be deported once the sentence is finalized.
olzllovely@sportschosun.com
