The Supreme Court ruled that a charge of an indecent act by compulsion can now be applied to incidents involving “assault or intimidation.”

The Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice Noh Jeong-hee, overturned an original ruling against a defendant on Thursday who was found not guilty on appeal for violating the Sexual Violence Punishment Act, imposing a fine of ten million won, or around seven-thousand-500 U.S. dollars, and remanding the case to the Seoul High Court.

The defendant was originally found guilty of forcibly molesting a female cousin and sentenced to three years in prison for hugging the victim, knocking her down on her bed and engaging in touching.

However, an appellate court found him not guilty, saying that the extent of physical force used by the defendant was not enough to render resistance difficult.

With its latest ruling, the Supreme Court has abolished the existing jurisprudence of precedents that require the inability to physically resist the “assault or intimidation” to be considered an forced indecent act.