Seo Joon-won (23), a former Lotte Giants pitcher who was sentenced to probation in the first trial on charges of sexual crimes related to minors, appealed for leniency in the appeal trial, saying, “I will live with atonement.”메이저사이트
According to News 1, Newsis, the Busan High Court Criminal Department 1 (Chief Judge Park Joon-yong) held a final trial on the 5th for Seo Joon-won, who was indicted on charges of violating the Act on the Protection of Sexuality for Children and Adolescents (Production and Distribution of Adolescents).
In the first trial in September last year, Seo was sentenced to three years in prison and five years of probation. The prosecution appealed the sentence on the grounds that the sentence was low, and demanded six years in prison, the same as the first trial.
“I apologize to the victims and their parents. I will live with atonement for the rest of my life,” Seo said in his closing argument. “I lost all my friends, work, family, and all my trust due to the wrong choice. I want to come to society and work hard to regain trust.”
Seo Jun-won’s lawyer said, “Seo Jun-won is also actively participating in volunteer activities recently, and he sincerely apologized to the victim to reach an agreement,” adding, “Seo Jun-won, who started baseball at the age of 10, took the crime seriously and did not appeal even though he was released from his team and was unable to raise him after divorcing.”
According to the prosecution’s indictment, Seo Jun-won is accused of deceiving the victim, who he learned through the open KakaoTalk chat room on Aug. 18, 2022, as if he would pay pocket money, and sending sexual messages 60 times, demanding the transmission of photos of his or her body exposure. He is also accused of having the victim photograph a part or whole body seven times, then receiving it to produce sexual exploitation and distribute the photos he received.
Seo Joon-won, a top prospect who joined Lotte as the first draft pick of the 2019 rookie draft, was released by the Lotte club on March 23 last year due to the incident, and was later suspended by the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO).
Meanwhile, Seo Jun-won caused another stir by driving under the influence of alcohol during the probation period. He was booked without detention by police on May 31 for rearranging a taxi waiting for a signal at an intersection in Busanjin-gu. At that time, Seo’s blood alcohol level was reportedly at the level of a driver’s license suspension (more than 0.03% to less than 0.08%).