Inmate gets added term for false accusation out of spite

An inmate convicted of sex crimes has been sentenced to an additional year in prison for a false accusation, apparently in retaliation for submitting evidence against him, as well as for threatening fellow inmates.

The Chuncheon District Court sentenced the 25-year-old inmate, charged with false accusation and aggravated intimidation, to an additional year in prison, according to legal sources Sunday.

The inmate was accused of conspiring with another inmate, also 25, to file a false complaint with the Hongcheon Police Station, accusing an acquaintance of sexually abusing a minor, filming it and distributing the footage.

According to the indictment, the defendant held a grudge against the acquaintance for submitting evidence unfavorable to him during his trial on charges of raping a minor through deception and force.

The defendant allegedly suggested to the fellow inmate, who was familiar with the acquaintance's social circle, that they frame this person for sex crimes.

The defendant then drafted a false complaint accusing the acquaintance. The fellow inmate copied the allegations in his own handwriting and mailed the complaint to police.

The fellow inmate also made false statements when police visited Chuncheon Correctional Institution, where both were incarcerated, to investigate the allegations.

Separately, the defendant was charged with aggravated intimidation for threatening another inmate in his 40s with a weapon while they were assembling shopping bags at a prison workshop.

During the trial, the defendant denied initiating the false accusation, claiming that he had merely drafted the complaint at the request of the fellow inmate.

The court, however, rejected his argument, finding that he had a clear motive to retaliate against the acquaintance, having previously expressed resentment over an audio recording submitted as unfavorable evidence in his earlier trial.

The fellow inmate also testified that he had participated in the scheme because the defendant threatened to falsely accuse him of sex crimes, too, if he refused to cooperate. The court found the testimony credible.

The court further noted that the defendant had paid the postage for the complaint, indicating that he had played an active role in the scheme.

"The circumstances surrounding the defendant's false accusation, his coercion of a fellow inmate into participating in the crime and the malicious nature of the allegations are particularly reprehensible," the court said, also criticizing the defendant's attempt to shift responsibility to his fellow inmate.

The court noted that the defendant had committed the offenses while incarcerated and that the aggravated intimidation offense was committed during a repeat-offender period stemming from a different type of crime.

However, the court said it also took into consideration the defendant's admission of the aggravated intimidation charge and his settlement with the victim in determining the sentence.