Police dropped gang rape case — prosecutors reinvestigated, all 3 suspects indicted under new prosecution regime

All three suspects in a gang rape case that police had declined to refer to prosecutors — citing insufficient evidence — have been indicted and detained after prosecutors requested a reinvestigation and conducted their own supplementary probe, marking the first such case to result in a detention-based indictment under the newly established public prosecution office system.

The case comes amid the abolition of the prosecution service and the launch of the public prosecution office system on Oct. 2, which stripped prosecutors of the authority to conduct direct investigations. The indictments were based on supplementary investigative work carried out by prosecutors just before the institutional overhaul took effect.

The Second Criminal Division of the Pohang Branch of the Daegu District Public Prosecution Office said Wednesday it had indicted three men in their 20s — identified as A, B and C — on charges of violating the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment of Sexual Violence Crimes, specifically aggravated quasi-rape. All three are office workers and are being held in detention.

According to the prosecution office, the three men are accused of gang-raping a woman in her 20s while she was intoxicated last October. The suspects are friends with one another; the victim was a high school classmate of A but had never previously met the other two, investigators found. The assault took place at B's residence.

Police, who received the victim's emergency call on the day of the incident, concluded their investigation in March and referred only B to prosecutors on a charge of quasi-forcible indecent act. They determined there was insufficient evidence to refer the other two on the more serious aggravated quasi-rape charges and declined to send the case forward.

Prosecutors who reviewed the case file reached a different conclusion. They found that while the victim had provided a detailed and consistent account, the suspects' explanations were mutually contradictory or implausible in parts. Prosecutors determined that additional investigation was needed — including seizure of mobile phones and re-examination of witnesses — and in May asked police to reinvestigate.

Police and prosecutors then held written and in-person consultations to map out the direction of the supplementary investigation. After conducting additional investigative steps including search and seizure, police reversed their earlier decision and referred all three suspects on aggravated quasi-rape charges on Sept. 1.

After receiving the case back, prosecutors also conducted their own supplementary investigation. They carried out a search and seizure and on-site inspection of the residence identified as the scene of the assault, and analyzed a phone call the victim made to an acquaintance shortly after realizing what had happened. Based on that work, prosecutors re-examined the suspects and built out the charges in greater detail, the prosecution office said.

Citing the gravity of the offense and the prolonged suffering the victim had endured through the lengthy investigation, prosecutors sought arrest warrants for all three suspects. The court issued the warrants on Sept. 29.

A prosecution office official said the office would "guarantee the victim's right to testify during the upcoming trial proceedings, prevent secondary harm, and provide support to the victim in coordination with the Crime Victim Support Center." The official added that the office would "continue working with police and others to ensure that protections for sexual violence victims remain intact even after the revised Code of Criminal Procedure and related laws take effect."