Musical actor Kang Eun Il, who was falsely accused of sexual assault, released from jail after 5 months when he was proven innocent through CCTV footage

Recently, the story of a musical actor falsely accused of sexual assault came to light again. Musical actor Kang Eun Il was falsely accused of sexual assault and was released from prison after 5 months when his innocence was proven through CCTV footage.

In the latest episode of tvN STORY's 'No Way I'm an Adult,' Dr. Hwang Min Goo, a forensic video analysis expert, brought to light an incident that took place in 2018. Dr. Hwang Min Goo began by explaining that a middle-aged man came to him for help in 2019. The middle-aged man said to him, "My nephew is falsely accused of sexual assault and is in prison. Please help us." That nephew was music actor Kang Eun Il.

The incident took place in March 2018 when Kang Eun Il was drinking at a restaurant with his friends. One of the two women, 'A,' who was with him at that time, reported Kang Eun Il of sexual assault. 'A' claimed that Kang Eun Il had sexually assaulted her in the women's bathroom stall. However, the musical actor refuted her claims by saying that 'A' was the one who grabbed him in front of the bathroom stall and threatened him by saying, "I am recording everything. Do you have a lot of money?"

In regard to this, Dr. Hwang stated, "I am not on anyone's side. You can remember things differently from what is recorded. At times, you might begin to remember things that didn't happen, the more you think about a certain event. So I don't rely on memories, but videos always tell the truth."

Dr. Hwang explained he was able to get to the truth of the incident after analyzing the surveillance video that was installed at the restaurant. He explained the bathroom of this restaurant has one entrance and is constructed in a way in which the women's bathroom stall faces the men's bathroom stall, with the sink located in between the stalls.

He continued to explain that there were no surveillance cameras installed inside the bathroom, but there was a camera pointed at the bathroom entrance, and there was also a vent on the bathroom entrance door. The surveillance video revealed that the woman followed Kang Eun Il to the bathroom. The vent was able to show Kang Eun Il going to the men's stall and 'A' going into the women's stall, with the door opening and closing. There wasn't any movement for a while, but the surveillance camera showed the women's stall door open again with 'A' walking out.

Dr. Hwang explained, "If Mr. Kang Eun Il had gone to the women's stall just as 'A' testified, then we should have been able to see his feet moving toward the women's stall and the door of the stall should open. However, after 'A' goes to the left to the women's stall, there is no one walking into the same stall. Also, the women's stall door only opens again when 'A' walks out." He added, "If the vent on the door was not there, he (Kang Eun Il) would have been definitely seen as guilty in this case."

During the first trial, Kang Eun Il was sentenced to 6 months in prison after being proven guilty based on A's testimony. However, during the second trial, Dr. Hwang was able to analyze the video and verify that Kang Eun Il was innocent. 

In 2020, Kang Eun Il was proven innocent and released from prison. Dr. Hwang concluded by explaining, "Due to this incident, Kang Eun Il was expelled from his agency and all the advertisement deals he had was canceled. But now, he is slowly returning to activities after being proven innocent."

After coming across this story, netizens were furious and commented, "That woman should be put in jail for testifying falsely," "She ruined an innocent man's life, she needs to pay for what she did," "They need to arrest her for doing something so shameful," "She needs to pay for all the things he lost," and "What about that woman who ruined his life? Shouldn't she be put in prison for the intentional false accusation?"