Goo Hara’s Ex-Boyfriend Choi Jong Beom Sentenced To A Year In Prison At Re-Trial…But Is Still Considered “Innocent”

The late Goo Hara was previously embroiled in a court case when she bravely took up charges against her ex-boyfriend, Choi Jong Beom. Choi Jong Beom was accused of illegal filming of sexually explicit content and blackmail using the said content. As he was initially pronounced as innocent by the courts, Goo Hara’s family took up a retrial on her behalf. On 15 October 2020, the court case finally made its last ruling.

Unfortunately, the final call was to sentence Choi Jong Beom to a year in prison, although in terms of law and order, the court still rules him as innocent. This is largely due to the fact that Goo Hara and Choi Jong Beom were in a relationship.

Goo Hara’s representative lawyer, No Jong Eon expressed that Goo Hara had explicitly insisted that she had never agreed to any sort of filming. No Jong Eon revealed that he had hoped the court would rule filming without permission as illegal, even in a romantic relationship. However, that did not happen, much to his regret.

He shares that the legal system needs to under go some change and take into account date violence and the changes of dynamics in relationships between two parties.

Goo Hara’s older brother, Goo Ho In, also expressed that although through the retrial, their family has gotten just a little bit of their resentment resolved, they still feel it is unfair that Choi Jong Beom was ruled as innocent and was only sentenced to a year in prison.

Choi Jong Beom had previously inflicted physical harm on Goo Hara, as well as taken photos and videos of her body without consent. He then threatened her with these content when their relationship went awry.