The defendant's appeal is dismissed.

1. The judgment of the court below which found the defendant guilty of the facts charged despite the fact that the defendant did not have committed an indecent act because he had her but the victim's her butt her, is erroneous and has affected the conclusion of the judgment.

2. Determination

A. Considering the difference between the first instance court and the appellate court’s method of assessing the credibility of a witness’s statement in accordance with the spirit of the substantial direct trial principle adopted by the Korean Criminal Procedure Act as an element of the trial-oriented principle, the first instance court’s decision on the credibility of the witness statement made by the first instance court was clearly erroneous in light of the contents of the first instance judgment and the evidence examined by the first instance court.

Unless there exist special circumstances to view that maintaining the first instance judgment on the credibility of a statement made by a witness of the first instance trial is clearly unfair, or in full view of the results of the first instance examination and the results of the further examination of evidence conducted until the closing of pleadings, the appellate court should not reverse without permission the first instance judgment on the sole ground that the first instance judgment on the credibility of a statement made by a witness of the first instance trial differs from the appellate court’s judgment (see, e.g., Supreme Court Decision 2018Do1748, Jul. 24, 2019). In addition, the victim’s statement is consistent with the main contents of the statement in light of the empirical rule, and there are no parts inconsistent or contradictory in itself in light of the empirical rule, and there is no motive or reason to make a false statement unfavorable to the defendant (see, e.g., Supreme Court Decision 2006Do17748, Nov. 23, 2006).