A Brazilian woman who broke into the home of BTS member Jungkook and loitered near his residence dozens of times has received a suspended prison sentence.
According to the legal community Wednesday, Park Ji-won, a senior judge at the Seoul Western District Court's Criminal Division 1, sentenced the Brazilian woman, identified as A, to one year in prison suspended for two years on the 8th of last month. She had been indicted and detained on charges of violating the Act on the Punishment of Stalking Crimes and trespassing.
A was put on trial on charges of stalking Jungkook by visiting his home in Seoul 22 times between December 7 and 28 last year, loitering around the residence and watching it.
On the first day of the offense, A pressed the doorbell 13 times in a row over about 20 minutes. On the 13th of the same month, she entered the residence by taking advantage of a delivery worker's access.
A was subsequently arrested in the act, and police issued an emergency measure prohibiting her from approaching within 100 meters of Jungkook or his home.
However, A did not stop stalking even after the measure. On January 4, she again visited Jungkook's home and left photos and printed materials nearby, violating the access ban order and repeating her stalking behavior.
"The defendant committed the stalking crime even after being arrested in the act, receiving an access ban warning during the police investigation, and being released," Judge Park noted. "The victim wants the defendant to be severely punished."
However, the court took into account that A appeared to have committed the offense to convey her feelings to Jungkook and had no intent to cause harm. The court also considered as favorable circumstances that the degree of violation of the emergency measure was relatively minor and that she had not intruded into the indoor living space.
In addition, the court determined that the likelihood of recidivism was not high, given that A had been investigated in detention for about three months and would be forcibly deported once the sentence is finalized.
