Two indicted for falsely accusing monk of groping after extortion plot failed

Two people have been indicted after allegedly filing a false sexual assault complaint against a Buddhist monk when their plan to extort him fell through.

The Tongyeong Branch of the Changwon District Prosecutors' Office indicted a woman in her 50s, identified as A, on charges of filing a false complaint, and a man in his 60s, identified as B, on charges of inciting a false complaint.

According to prosecutors, A filed a false complaint in July last year claiming she had been groped twice by C, a monk in his 60s at a Buddhist temple in Goseong-gun, South Gyeongsang Province, whom she knew personally. B is accused of instructing A to file the false complaint.

Investigators found that A and B, who had previously been in a romantic relationship, had conspired to have A engage in sexual contact with C while B secretly filmed it, then use the footage to extort tens of millions of won from C.

When the scheme failed, prosecutors said, the two fabricated a story that C had groped A and filed a criminal complaint against him.

Prosecutors obtained arrest warrants for both A and B and indicted them on Friday.