명문 공과대학으로 꼽히는 카네기멜론대학에 재학중인 한인 남학생이 성폭행 혐의로 기소돼 유죄 평결을 받았다. 이 학교에 다니는 백준우(24·사진)씨는 지난해 9월 22일 피츠버그 대학 여학생을 자신의 아파트에서 성폭행한 혐의로 체포돼 재판을 받아오다 1일 재판에서 배심원들이 기소 혐의를 모두 유죄로 판단한 것.

당시 백군의 아파트 이웃이 한 여성이 떠나겠다며 비명을 지르는 것을 듣고 아파트 문을 두드리자 옷을 제대로 입지 않은 여성이 뛰쳐나와 달아나자 경찰에 신고했었다.
경찰이 아파트를 찾아왔을 때 백씨는 "여학생에게 잭 다니엘 위스키를 마시게 했고 취한 뒤 방에서 섹스를 했다"고 밝혔다.

그는 또 "이처럼 (강간이라고 주장하는) 상황이 발생할 것을 대비해 전화기로 녹음을 했다"며 "합의에 의한 성관계였다"고 주장했다.

하지만 경찰은 인근 병원에서 치료를 받고 있는 여학생을 찾아 심문을 한 결과 그녀가 "술에 너무 취해 성관계를 합의할 수 조차 없었다"면서 "녹음사실 조차도 몰랐다"고 증언했다고 전했다. 당시 여학생의 목에는 손톱으로 긁힌 듯한 상처 등이 발견됐었다.

경찰은 녹음 내용을 검토하면서 피해 여학생이 백군에게 몇 차례나 멈추라고 소리치는 것을 확인하고 백군을 체포, 검찰에 넘겼다. 검찰은 백군이 재판 내내 당초 주장했던 것과는 달리 술에 취해 기억이 안난다는 등 계속해서 증언 내용을 바꾸는 등 사건 당일 상황에 대해 일관성 없이 설명했다며 유죄를 주장해 왔다.

Com. v. Baik, J. (memorandum)

Joon Woo Baik, 24, was convicted of sexual assault when his jury trial wrapped up on Tuesday.

Baik sexually assaulted a female Pitt student in an apartment on Morewood Avenue in Shadyside September of last fall. Baik was a CMU student.

Police were called to the apartment when Baik's neighbor heard a woman screaming that she wanted to leave. Police found some scratches and marks on the victim's neck when they interviewed her at a local hospital. When police interviewed Baik, he told officers he gave the victim Jack Daniels. Baik told police he knew she was drunk and took her into his bedroom, where they had sex.

Baik told police he recorded the encounter on his phone "in case something like this happened."

When police asked Baik if the victim knew she was being recorded, he said no. When police interviewed the victim, she said she was so drunk she could not have consented to sexual activity. She said she didn't consent to being recorded either. When police reviewed the recording, they say the victim could be heard telling Baik to stop multiple times.

KDKA asked some current Pitt students and recent graduates if they've ever felt threatened. Here's what they had to say.

"Freshman year, one experience where somebody grabbed my arm," said recent Pitt grad Natalie Lotter.

"I do remember junior year a sign on the door when we came back saying someone was assaulted in a neighborhood where we stayed at time," said recent Pitt grad Marissa Gavin.

"I usually go home very early school ends at 4 and go directly home," said Pitt sophomore Cindy Yi. I will seldom go to parties."

Baik is scheduled to be sentenced in July.

A recent CMU graduate was found guilty of a second degree sexual assault felony against a female Pitt student Tuesday morning.

In a jury trial in county court, Joon Woo “Jason” Baik, a CMU statistics major who graduated in 2019, was also found not guilty on charges of raping an unconscious victim, simple assault and false imprisonment.

A criminal complaint from Pittsburgh police officer Joseph Lippert described the assault, which occurred in Baik’s apartment on Morewood Avenue on Sept. 22, 2018.