Category: crime & punishment

Let this be lesson to people that you can’t get back at people who dump you by posting sex videos online:

A 25-year-old Kunsan-based airman has been fined for posting a sex video online after recording it without his partner’s permission.

On Jan. 13, the Jeonju District Court fined the dual U.S.-South Korean citizen 2 million won, or about $1,848, and ordered him to attend a 16-hour sexual violence therapy program for breaking a South Korean law concerning violent sexual crimes, according to sentencing documents.

Using his cell phone, the airman shot an approximately 20-second video of himself and a 25-year-old South Korean woman having sex in a hotel in July 2013. He posted the video on two websites in September and October 2014 after becoming angry at the woman.  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read more at the link.

The cause of an apartment fire that killed three and injured dozens more in Uijongbu is being blamed on something as stupid as this:

An arrest warrant has been requested for a 53-year-old man who allegedly caused a massive fire at an apartment building in a Seoul suburb that killed four people and injured scores of others, police said Tuesday.

The man, identified only by his surname Kim, faces charges of manslaughter, assault without intent and causing a fire without intent, the Uijeongbu Police Station in this city just north of Seoul said.

Police believe the fire at the 10-story Daebong Green Apartment on Jan. 10 started when Kim held a flame up to the ignition of his motorcycle parked outside the apartment. He reportedly did this to take out the key that had frozen inside the ignition.

What Kim did not notice, however, was that he was also melting the sheaths of the ignition line, which created a spark and quickly developed into an inferno that injured 126 people, police said.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link, but yet another major disaster caused by a lack of public safety awareness.

This has always been a strange murder suicide case and the speculation from this reporter a court has decided is not slander:

A Seoul appellate court acquitted a reporter on Friday of falsely claiming that the younger brother of President Park Geun-hye may have been behind the murder of his nephew.

In 2013, a lower court had cleared Joo Jin-woo, a reporter of the monthly news magazine Sisa IN, of charges that he spread false information about Park Ji-man in an article published in December 2012.

At the height of President Park’s presidential campaign, Joo’s article revisited a 2011 case in which the body of Park’s nephew was found on a hiking trail near Mount Bukhan in northern Seoul. Just three kilometers from the scene, another one of her nephews was found hanging from a tree.

Police concluded that one of the nephews had murdered the other after getting into a financial dispute, and then hung himself.

But Joo alleged that Park Ji-man may have ordered the murder, citing a legal dispute between Ji-man and his brother-in-law, who is the father of the two nephews.

Joo also faced charges that he slandered the president’s late father, former President Park Chung-hee, during a book event in 2010.

Upholding a lower court ruling, the Seoul High Court said Joo was not guilty of spreading false information since he’d tried his best to uncover the truth behind the murder.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.

Below is the latest USFK Court Martial and ROK Criminal Prosecution Results for December 2014:

Results of Court Martials for December 2014

On 4 December 2014, at a General Court-Martial, Specialist Yvonne S. Mayberry, 501st Special Troops Battalion, 501st Sustainment Brigade, was found guilty of two Specifications of failure to obey a lawful general order (Article 92, UCMJ); one Specification of false official statement (Article 107); two Specifications of larceny of non-military property (Article 121); and two Specifications of stealing mail in (Article 134).  She was sentenced to be reduced to E-1, confined for 20 months, and to be discharged with a Bad-Conduct Discharge.

On 8 December 2014, at a General Court-Martial, SFC William J. Delgado, 65^th Medical Brigade, was convicted of one specification of violating a lawful general order (Article 92, UCMJ) and one specification of sexual assault (Article 120).  He was sentenced to be reduced to E-1, to be confined for 36 months, and to be discharged with a Bad-Conduct Discharge.

On 10 December 2014, at a General Court-Martial, PV2 Deandre Coleman, 2d Infantry Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2d Infantry Division, was found guilty of two specifications of failure to go to his appointed placed of duty, (Article 86, UCMJ), one specification of disrespect to a commissioned officer (Article 89), one specification of failure to obey a lawful general order (Article 92), and three specifications of larceny (Article 121).  He was sentenced to be reduced to the grade of E-1, to be confined for eight months, and to be discharged with a Bad Conduct Discharge.

On 18 December 2014, at a General Court Martial, SPC Aaron Nies, 36^th Signal Battalion, 1st Signal Brigade, was found guilty of two Specifications of sexual assault (UCMJ, Article 120), three Specifications of abusive sexual contact (Article 120), attempted sexual assault (Article 80), indecent exposure (Article 120c), and failing to obey the curfew policy (Article 92).  He was sentenced to be reduced to E-1, to be confined for 26 months, and to be discharged with a Bad Conduct Discharge.

On 19 December 2014, at a Special Court-Martial, Private First Class Timetra K. Hooks, 194th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, 501st Sustainment Brigade, was found guilty of two Specifications of larceny of non-government property (Article 121, UCMJ); five Specifications of forgery (Article 123); and one specification of obstructing justice (Article 134).  She was sentenced to be reduced to E-1; to be confined for six months; and to be discharged with a Bad-Conduct Discharge.

Results of ROK Criminal Prosecutions for December 2014

In Seoul Central District Court on 4 December 2014, CPT Sophie S. Hilaire, HHB, 8th Army, duty w/USFK, was convicted of traffic law violations.  Her adjudged sentence was a 2,000,000 Won fine.

In Suwon District Court on 10 December 2014, PVT Dmitri N. Davis, HHC, 3-2 GSAB, USAG Humphreys, was found not guilty of the charges of Indecent Act by Compulsion.

In Daegu District Court on 18 December 2014, PVT Travis D. Mitchell, 551st ICTC, USAG Daegu (Carroll), was convicted of Indecent Act by Compulsion.  His adjudged sentence was a 10,000,000 Won fine.

In Seoul Central District Court on 31 December 2014, Capt Jonathan P. Walsh, HQ, 7th Air Force (A7X), Osan Air Base, was convicted of Infliction of Bodily Injury, Destruction and Damage of Property and Violation of the Minor Offense Act.  His adjudged sentence was a 1,000,000 Won fine.

It seems like smuggling drugs is risky enough, but to smuggle them into a country that will not hesitate to kill you just seems stupid:

China executed a South Korean national last week for smuggling and trading drugs, Seoul’s foreign ministry said Monday, following Beijing’s execution of three South Korean drug dealers five months earlier.

Despite Seoul’s repeated pleas for clemency, the Chinese authorities on Tuesday executed the South Korean national, identified only by his surname Kim, who was sentenced to death for drug smuggling and transportation in China, the ministry said.

Kim was arrested in China in May 2010 on charges of smuggling some 5 kilograms of drugs into the country and trafficking them.

A Chinese district court sentenced him to death in April 2012 and an appellate court upheld the ruling eight months later. China’s highest court also confirmed the sentence.

Seoul’s foreign ministry expressed regret over China’s execution of the South Korean national despite its repeated calls for clemency.

“The Korean government regrets that the execution took place although Seoul had requested Beijing to refrain from handing carrying it out on humanitarian grounds and the principle of reciprocity,” the foreign ministry said. “We plan to beef up cooperation with related countries to prevent Korean nationals from being involved in drug-related crime.”  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.

If you are a woman living in Suwon you might want to be a little extra careful, this is a lot women missing in just two years:

Over the past two years, 159 women aged 18 or older have been reported missing in Suwon, the Gyeonggi Provincial Police Agency said Thursday.

Suwon is the scene of last month’s gruesome “torso murder” in Paldal-gu, in which a Korean-Chinese illegal alien Park Chun-bong killed his Korean-Chinese ex-girlfriend and discarded her body parts in four separate places. Ten women, five each in 2012 and 2013 living in Paldal-gu were reported missing, police said.

In 2012, another Korean-Chinese, Oh Won-choon, kidnapped and killed a 23-year-old woman and cut the body into more than 300 pieces. Oh was jailed for life last year.

Police plan to expand their investigations based on a possible link between the missing women and Park, who was arrested on Dec. 15.

Police said they have designated some districts in Suwon where there are large foreign communities as “vulnerable areas,” and will increase patrols and security measure. [Korea Times]

This guy is claiming he was just being multicultural:

A man who was caught allegedly robbing a house while wearing women’s panties has been identified and apprehended, Seoul police said Monday.

The incident occurred some three months ago. The 63-year-old man, identified only as Hwang, was allegedly ransacking a house when the owner walked in. Hwang escaped, but not before getting his pants and panties caught on the window as he was jumping out.

Police took hair and fluid samples in the underwear to identify the man and arrested him last Wednesday.

The man claimed he wore the women’s underwear because of a traditional superstition, Gangseo-gu district police said.  [Korea Times]

Park Chun-bong, who has admitted to killing a woman and brutally butchering her body in Suwon, south of Seoul, is flanked by police officers as he leaves the Suwon Western Police Station on Dec. 14, 2014, to attend a hearing for his arrest warrant. (Yonhap)

This appeal court case depending on how it goes may end up helping this Special Forces Colonel who is being charged for getting a female partner infected with HIV:

A Kansas airman accused of aggravated assault for exposing multiple sex partners to HIV at swinger parties in Wichita will have his appeal heard this week before the nation’s highest military court.

The Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces will on Tuesday take up the case against David Gutierrez, an appeal the defense contends could upend similar prosecutions in the U.S. military.

“This case will have the potential of decriminalizing sexual contact with someone with HIV,” defense attorney Kevin McDermott said.

Air Force prosecutors have declined comment.

Gutierrez was a sergeant at McConnell Air Force Base in Wichita in 2011 when he was stripped of his rank and sentenced to eight years behind bars.

In addition to aggravated assault, Gutierrez also was found guilty of violating an order to notify partners about his HIV status and to use condoms. He was also convicted of indecent acts and adultery. He has not been accused of actually infecting anyone with HIV.

In his appeal, Gutierrez has challenged whether the risk to his sexual partners was high enough to constitute aggravated assault, arguing that laws covering exposure to the disease are outdated since the statistical probability of heterosexual transmission is low and medical advances have made the disease treatable.  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read more at the link, but I do not see how giving someone HIV should not be considered a crime of some kind regardless of how treatable it is now a days.  It is something that at least permanently negatively alters the life of anyone who catches it and can lead to deadly consequences.  Also of interest with this story is that Gutierrez is also claiming he is not guilty of adultery since his wife participated in the swinger parties.  It will be interesting to see how this case turns out and its ramifications on the UCMJ.

Here are the November 2014 court martial results that were posted on the USFK website.

Results of Courts-Martial for November 2014

On 7 November 2014, at a General Court-Martial, SSG Randal C. Rucker, 65^th Medical Brigade, was convicted of one specification of maltreatment of a subordinate (UCMJ, Article 93), four specifications of abusive sexual contact (Article 120), and one specification of assault consummated by a battery (Article 128).  He was sentenced to be reduced to E-1, to be confined for 12 months, and to be discharged with a Dishonorable Discharge.

On 11 November 2014, at a Special Court-Martial PFC Brandon L. Hall, Headquarters and Headquarters Battalion, 2d Infantry Division, was found guilty of one specification of aggravated assault with a dangerous weapon (UCMJ Article 128) and one specification of assault consummated by battery (Article 128).  He was sentenced to reduction to E-1, six months confinement, and to be discharged with a Bad Conduct Discharge.

On 13 November 2014, at a General Court-Martial, SFC Gregory McClain, 210th Field Artillery Brigade was found guilty of one specification of failure to obey a general regulation (UCMJ, Article 92).  He was sentenced to reduction to the grade of Sergeant (E-5) and three months confinement.

On 19 November 2014, at a General Court-Martial, SGT Duane R. James, 65th Medical Brigade, was convicted of one specification of adultery (UCMJ, Article 134).  He was sentenced to a Bad-Conduct Discharge.

On 20 November 2014, at a General Court-Martial, CPT John G. Birdsong, 65th Medical Brigade, was found guilty of one specification of sexual assault (UCMJ, Article 120) and one specification of failing to obey a lawful general regulation (UCMJ, Article 92).  He was sentenced to confinement for 24 months and to be dismissed from the service.

On 24 November 2014, at a Summary Court-Martial, SFC Christopher L. Martinez, 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, was found guilty of one specification of abusive sexual contact (UCMJ, Article 120) and one specification of failure to obey a lawful general order (Article 92).  He was sentenced to reduction to E-6 and forfeiture of two-thirds pay for one month.

Results of ROK Criminal Prosecutions for November 2014

In Seoul Central District Court on 7 November 2014, Airman Willie S. Ford, Jr., 51st CPTS, Osan Air Base, was convicted of Obstruction of Performance of Official Duties and Infliction of Bodily Injury.  His adjudged sentence was imprisonment for 6 months, suspended for 2 years.

In Suwon District Court on 20 November 2014, MSgt Reginald G. Burks, 51st AMXS, Osan Air Base, was convicted of DUI.  His adjudged sentence was a 1,000,000 Won fine.

In Suwon District Court on 20 November 2014, MSgt David R. Sands, 607th SPTS/CSS, Osan Air Base, was convicted of DUI.  His adjudged sentence was a 1,500,000 Won fine.

In Suwon District Court on 20 November 2014, SSgt David J. Torrey, 303d IS/DOA, Osan Air Base, was convicted of DUI.  His adjudged sentence was a 2,000,000 Won fine.

In Seoul Central District Court on 21 November 2014, SSG Alan D. McNicholas, HHC, 2/9th Infantry, USAG Casey, was convicted of Assault.  His adjudged sentence was a 1,000,000 Won fine.

In Seoul Central District Court on 21 November 2014, SGT Crisoforo T. Trujillo, HHC,  2-2 Assault, USAG Yongsan, was convicted of Larceny and DUI.  His adjudged sentence was imprisonment for 6 months, suspended for 2 years.

In Suwon District Court on 26 November 2014, PFC Nico A. Pierce, 4-58th AOB, USAG Humphreys, was convicted of DUI.  His adjudged sentence was a 1,500,000 Won fine.

In Suwon District Court on 26 November 2014, SFC Nathaniel J. Goza, A Co, 719th MI BN, USAG Humphreys, was convicted of DUI.  His adjudged sentence was a 4,000,000 Won fine.

In Seoul Central District Court on 4 February 2014, SGT Walter L. Thomas, B Btry, 1/15th FA, USAG Casey, was convicted of Infliction of Bodily Injury, Assault and Destruction of Property.  His adjudged sentence was a 2,000,000 Won fine.  The Soldier demanded a formal trial but withdrew the request on 24 November 2014.