Investigators from the Gwangju District Prosecutors' Office conduct a search and seizure at the Gwangsan Police Station in Gwangsan-gu on July 7. This photo is not directly related to the article. [Yonhap]
Investigators from the Gwangju District Prosecutors' Office conduct a search and seizure at the Gwangsan Police Station in Gwangsan-gu on July 7. This photo is not directly related to the article. [Yonhap]

Prosecutors have found signs that the Gwangju Gwangsan Police Station — already at the center of controversy over allegations that it downplayed and concealed the so-called Jang Yun-gi case — also conducted a shoddy investigation into a man who sexually exploited minors.

During a supplementary investigation, prosecutors discovered additional sexual exploitation material involving a second victim whom police had not identified. It emerged that police had been aware of evidence pointing to additional offenses during their own investigation but did not pursue the matter, citing an inability to identify the victim.

Problems also arose in how police took the suspect into custody. Officers carried out an emergency arrest and then sought a post-arrest warrant from prosecutors, but the warrant was rejected because the legal requirements for an emergency arrest had not been met — allowing the suspect to go free once.

The Gwangju District Prosecutors' Office's Women and Children Crimes Investigation Division — headed by Seo Hye-seon — indicted a 20-year-old man surnamed Lee on July 16 on charges including production of sexual exploitation material involving a juvenile, coercion using such material, quasi-rape of a minor, quasi-similar rape of a minor, and assault, all under the Act on the Protection of Children and Youth from Sexual Abuse.

Lee is accused of producing sexual exploitation material of a minor identified as Victim A on 42 separate occasions between November last year and April this year, and of threatening to distribute the material. He also faces charges of raping and sexually assaulting Victim A on 10 occasions between December last year and May this year, as well as assaulting her in May this year and inflicting bruising that required 14 days of medical treatment.

There is a second victim. Victim B, also a minor, was allegedly subjected to the same type of exploitation. Lee faces an additional charge of producing sexual exploitation material involving Victim B from mid-2023 to early 2024.

When Gwangsan Police Station forwarded Lee's case to prosecutors on June 30, Victim A was the only identified victim. Prosecutors added the charges related to Victim B only after conducting their own supplementary investigation. After receiving the case, prosecutors summoned Lee for questioning. Following that session, Lee reportedly asked prosecutors to check photos on his seized mobile phone, claiming he had himself been injured by Victim A.

While examining the phone, prosecutors discovered additional sexual exploitation material. A subsequent forensic analysis turned up a photo file containing personal details identifying Victim B. Prosecutors then identified her as a second victim and proceeded with a separate investigation.

The problem is that police had also come across evidence of additional offenses during their initial investigation. During their own forensic examination, officers found a folder containing images of offenses against a person other than Victim A — but took no further action, saying they could not identify who that person was.

Flaws in the initial investigation also surfaced in how police moved to detain Lee. An unlawful emergency arrest by officers ultimately led to his release.

In mid-May, police entered Lee's home by punching in the door's keypad code — accompanied by the legal representative of Victim A's complaint — and arrested him, then applied for a post-arrest detention warrant. Prosecutors rejected the application, ruling the emergency arrest unlawful and directing police to correct the procedural defect before reapplying. Lee was released immediately after the warrant was rejected, and a detention warrant was not issued until about a month later.

The Code of Criminal Procedure states that a prosecutor or judicial police officer may arrest a suspect without a warrant — after informing the suspect of the reason — when there are reasonable grounds to believe the suspect has committed a crime punishable by death, life imprisonment, or imprisonment of three years or more, and when the urgency of the situation makes it impossible to obtain an arrest warrant from a district court judge. "Urgency" in this context refers to situations such as an unexpected encounter with a suspect, where there is no time to obtain a warrant.

Yang Ji-su, the prosecutor handling the case at the Gwangju District Prosecutors' Office's Women and Children Crimes Investigation Division, said by phone that "there are various things happening in Gwangju, so I am being cautious." He added that articles portraying conflict between prosecutors and police were proliferating, and that he personally did not think that was desirable. Yang said police can make legal mistakes in the course of an investigation, and that "a prosecutor's job is to provide judicial oversight — helping with investigations and correcting cases as a legal professional."


yg@heraldcorp.com