BAP member Himchan. Instagram
Heimchan (real name Kim Himchan, 32), a member of the idol group BAP, who was previously sentenced to imprisonment for sexual assault and is currently on trial, is being investigated once more by the police on the same charges.
The Yongsan Police Station in Seoul announced on the 26th that Himchan was arrested on charges of sexual assault and that CCTV footage was obtained and investigations are ongoing.
Himchan is accused of sexually harassing two women while intoxicated on the stairs outside a pub in Hannam-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul on the 17th of last month. One of the women was reported to be a foreigner.
It is said that the women went to the Yongsan Police Station directly following the incident and reported it.
Police investigations revealed that women first saw Himchan at a pub.
One of the reporters claimed that when Himchan protested that Himchan took his cell phone while waiting for food on the outside stairs, he wrapped his hands around his waist and said, ‘Let’s go upstairs together’.
Another reporter claimed that Himchan felt like he was touching a part of his body and immediately protested once morest him.
Himchan’s side acknowledged that there was some physical contact, but protested, “At the narrow and steep stairs, another customer opened the stair door.
Previously, Himchan was handed over to trial for forcibly molesting a woman in her 20s at a pension in Namyangju, Gyeonggi Province at dawn in July 2018, and has been on trial since 2019. He was sentenced to 10 months in prison at the first trial, but avoided court arrest.
Himchan was dissatisfied with the verdict of the first instance and is currently undergoing an appeals trial. At the first hearing of the appeals court on April 12, he submitted a letter of remorse acknowledging all charges of sexual harassment and appealed for a reduction in sentence.
Himchan is scheduled for the second hearing of the appeals court on the 14th of next month.