“I will live while reflecting”
Busan District Court Criminal Division 5 (Chief Judge Jang Ki-seok) held the Busan District Court in Yeonje-gu, Busan on the 13th for violation of the Act on Sexual Protection of Children and Adolescents (production and distribution of sexual exploitation materials, etc.) A sentencing hearing was held for Seo Jun-won, who is accused of such charges. Seo Jun-won was sentenced to three years in prison and five years of probation by the court.메이저놀이터
. On March 23, news of a serious crime was reported that could have a big impact not only in the KBO League but also in society. One media reported, ‘Seo Jun-won was booked on charges of kidnapping and luring a minor at the end of last year. The police transferred Seo Jun-won to the Busan District Prosecutors’ Office in December, and the Busan District Prosecutors’ Office assigned the case to the Women and Children Crimes Investigation Department and is conducting an investigation,’ they reported, saying that Seo Jun-won, who was a member of the Lotte Giants at the time, had committed a sex crime against a minor.
In August of last year, while Seo Jun-won was in contact with a minor he met through social media, he had the victim take and send a photo of his body. The victim reported this and was investigated by the police. The police investigation had already been underway since the end of last year. However, at the time, not only the Lotte team, but also the player’s closest family members and agencies were completely unaware of this fact.
At the time, stories related to Seo Jun-won’s crimes were circulating on online community sites, but even then, Seo Jun-won denied the charges and lied. Seo Jun-won complained that he had been ‘frauded’ by the Lotte team for a personal matter and had been to and from the court. Lotte, which had no investigative authority, could not confirm the authenticity, so it had no choice but to believe Seo Jun-won’s claim. Meanwhile, the facts of his crime were brought to the surface through a media outlet, and Seo Jun-won admitted to having received a substantive warrant review on the morning of March 23rd.
Immediately after the report came out, Lotte officially announced the release of Seo Jun-won. Lotte said, “We held a disciplinary committee meeting as soon as we confirmed that Seo Jun-won had been investigated by the police for a crime against a minor and had now been transferred to the prosecution. The club decided on expulsion, which is the highest level of disciplinary action, regardless of whether the prosecution indicts him or not.” “We acknowledge the player’s negligence in management and will strive to strictly prevent recurrence by implementing strict gender-sensitive education in the future,” he said.
Lotte CEO Lee Kang-hoon also bowed his head to the crime committed by Seo Jun-won. CEO Lee Kang-hoon said, “We sincerely apologize for the recent unpleasant incident caused by a member of the club. It is absolutely unacceptable for a professional baseball player, who is supported by many fans, to commit a crime against a minor.” “This unsavory act targeting young people who love and dream of watching the players has hurt the hearts of many people,” he said, bowing his head.
After Lotte ended its relationship with Seo Jun- won after being stripped of the ‘High School Choi Dong-won Award’, the Choi Dong-won Memorial Association also took action. The Choi Dong-won Memorial Association announced, “We have decided to deprive former Lotte Giants pitcher Seo Jun-won of the ‘1st High School Choi Dong-won Award’,” and Secretary General Kang Jin-soo said, “The act committed by Seo Jun-won was fundamentally serious and against humanity.” “By judging this, all board members and business association officials were greatly shocked. The seven board members unanimously decided to deprive Seo Jun-won of receiving the first High School Choi Dong-won Award,” he explained.
The ‘High School Choi Dong-won Award’ is an award given to the high school pitcher who performed the best that year and was first awarded in November 2018. Shortly after the ‘High School Choi Dong-won Award’ was established, one of the two inaugural winners was Seo Jun-won, who was attending Gyeongnam High School. At that time, Seo Jun-won, the first high school Choi Dong-won Award winner, was awarded a 3 million won scholarship, and Gyeongnam High School was awarded 2 million won in support.
Secretary General Kang Jin-soo said, “In the future, we will continue to discuss with the board of directors regarding the ‘deprivation of the award’ regardless of whether it is a high school Choi Dong-won Award or the Choi Dong-won Award in relation to awardees who have committed social crimes and serious crimes. If the board of directors makes a unanimous decision, as in the case of Seo Jun-won, “We will not hesitate and announce the ‘revocation of the award,’” he said.
March 28th. KBO’s statement of position
The KBO, which had shown a cautious attitude after Seo Jun-won’s crime became known, also released a statement. The KBO suspended Seo Jun-won from participation in accordance with Article 152, Paragraph 5 of the KBO Rules. Suspension from participation activities does not allow participation in any club activities (training, games) until the suspension ends. The KBO states, “Once the facts are confirmed according to the judgment of the judicial authorities, a reward and punishment committee will be held to determine whether the suspension of participation activities will be terminated.” “We plan to deliberate on final sanctions,” he said.
August 23rd. At the first trial on May 31, Seo Jun-won, who was sentenced to 6 years by the prosecution
, admitted to the crime, but claimed that he did not realize that the victim was a minor. But he couldn’t lie for long. At the trial held on June 14, Seo Jun-won’s side overturned his previous position and admitted that he was aware that he was a minor. And the investigation found that even though he knew he was a minor, he sent sexually explicit messages on 60 occasions and received body photos on as many as 7 occasions to produce sexual exploitation material.
Accordingly, the prosecution sentenced Seo Jun-won to 6 years, saying that although he was a first-time offender, he produced sexual exploitation material and that he did not show any signs of remorse, mentioning that he lied and said he did not know that he was a minor. In response, the lawyer appealed for leniency based on the fact that there was an agreement and that it did not lead to additional crimes. Seo Jun-won bowed his head and said, “I am ashamed and regret that I tried to relieve the stress accumulated from strict life control and childcare within the club in a crooked way. I am truly sorry to the victim.”
it seemed likely that Seo Jun-won would be sentenced to prison because the crime was serious. However, on this day, the court sentenced Seo Jun-won to three years in prison and five years of probation. What is the reason? The court said, “Based on the evidence, we recognize all of the charges as guilty. Considering the method of crime, the target, and the extent of the damage, the crime is serious,” but added, “The duration of the crime was only one day. It does not appear that sexual exploitation material was distributed.” “We took into account the fact that a settlement was paid to the victim’s mother and the fact that it was a first offense,” he said.
Seo Jun-won, who was leaving the court after being sentenced to probation, responded to reporters’ interview requests, saying, “Honestly, I was so scared. Now that the ruling has been made, I will follow it. And from now on, I will live my life thinking a little more deeply. Something like this will never happen. When asked about his state of mind, he said, “I will live uprightly and reflectively so that I can avoid this. Even now, my hands are shaking and my mind is confused.”
First of all, it is very unlikely that Seo Jun-won will play in uniform as a professional baseball player. What are your future plans? Seo Jun-won added, “I will gradually make plans for the future. I will adhere to the volunteer hours as stipulated in the ruling. I think this is the only thing I can think of for now.”