South Korean international Hwang Ui-jo yesterday received a suspended jail term for filming sexual encounters with a woman without her consent, Yonhap news agency reported.
The 32-year-old former English Premier League forward pleaded guilty in court in October last year.
“Considering the seriousness of the social harm caused by illegal filming crimes, it is necessary to impose a strict punishment,” Judge Lee Yong-je said yesterday, Yonhap reported.
Photo: AFP
“Mr Hwang filmed sexual intercourse scenes against the will of the victim using his mobile phone on four occasions,” the judge added.
The scandal came to light when Hwang’s sister-in-law posted private explicit videos of Hwang in an attempt to blackmail him in June 2023. She is now serving three years in prison for blackmail.
Prosecutors had asked the Seoul Central District Court for a four-year prison term for Hwang when they made their closing arguments in the case in October last year, but the court yesterday noted Hwang’s acknowledgement of his wrongdoing and his remorse in handing him a suspended sentence, Yonhap reported.
The fact that a third party distributed the footage on social media without his involvement was also taken into account, the news agency said.
Hwang had been charged with illegally filming sex without his partners’ consent on four occasions between June and September 2022.
Two victims were initially named, but Hwang was convicted on charges related to only one, Yonhap said.
Striker Hwang, who was an unused substitute for English Premier League Nottingham Forest before moving to Turkey, said in a prepared statement to the judge in October last year: “I offer my sincerest apologies to the victims who have suffered because of my wrongdoings. I sincerely plead for the utmost leniency.”
Hwang, who has featured more than 60 times for South Korea and now plays for Alanyaspor, had initially claimed he was innocent before admitting the offenses in court.
He last played for his country in 2023.
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