Man who called wife 460 times while under restraining order gets prison term

Four hundred and sixty rings. His wife lived in fear. A man who had been ordered by a court to stay away from and cut off contact with his wife — following a pattern of domestic violence — ignored those restrictions, calling and messaging her hundreds of times and showing up at her home. He has now been sentenced to prison.

Chuncheon District Court Judge Jeong Jong-geon of the Criminal Division sentenced the man, identified only as A, 49, to six months in prison on charges of violating the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment of Domestic Violence Crimes, the court announced Sunday.

According to the indictment, A had been placed under a court-ordered temporary protection measure in December last year — after assaulting his wife, B — that barred him from approaching her or any household member within 100 meters and prohibited all contact by phone or other means. Despite the order, he called or messaged B more than 460 times.

Then, in January, while the temporary measure was still in effect, A lured B out of her home by claiming she needed to collect a basic livelihood subsidy payment, then took her back to his residence and stayed with her — a deliberate act of prohibited contact.

A had also received a temporary protection order following a separate domestic violence incident in November last year, which he violated as well. He was arrested on the spot by police but later released, and immediately resumed contacting and approaching the victim.

Judge Jeong said A had "a prior record of punishment for violent crimes on multiple occasions" and had "repeatedly ignored the temporary measures put in place to protect the victim by approaching or contacting her, demonstrating very poor conduct."