Pro baseball player Lee Young-ha was acquitted Wednesday of charges of violence against a junior teammate during his high school baseball days.
Lee, 25, a pitcher of the Doosan Bears, was indicted without detention last year over allegations that he had beaten a teammate while attending Sunrin Internet High School in Seoul.
Judge Chung Geum-young of the Seoul Western District Court found Lee not guilty, citing a lack of evidence to support the charges.
The judge determined that the alleged victim's statement contradicted objective evidence and the testimonies of other teammates.
Lee was charged with assault along with Kim Dae-hyun, a pitcher for the LG Twins. Kim has been acquitted by a military court.
The ex-teammate claimed in February 2021 that Lee and Kim had physically assaulted younger players at the school and that he had skipped some practices due to their abuse.
Both players have denied those charges. Lee acknowledged he occasionally addressed the entire team to maintain discipline but denied singling out a particular player for abuse.
Following his indictment, Lee was removed from the Bears' active roster last August, and he has not even participated in the minor league since. (Yonhap)
