Oddly enough, news outlets and netizens have recently been abuzz over the accusations of an idol who was claimed to have molested a girl on a bus back in 2009. While the only information that was given was the surname Kang, outlets and reports have recently been stating that a "popular idol group member has been arrested for sexual molestation and assault," without knowing the full story.
The claims and allegations had appeared earlier in the year and were very open about the idol who was accused - especially after fans were able to dig up more information and the victim had come forward with more information. The idol in question was NU'EST Baekho (whose age, hometown, and last name perfectly added up). Now, with both NU'EST and Wanna One rising in popularity, the headlines are resurfacing again and newcomers of the story are starting to accuse Wanna One members, specifically Kang Daniel (presumably since they are more popular).
According to reports and the victim's post, Baekho and the victim were on their way back home from a cram-school when the idol began to molest the girl by touching her breasts, thighs, and genitals over her clothing. The victim stated she was silent after all these years because she had been able to forget about the idol. However, 9 years later with his rise in popularity, the victim came forward saying, "I've been going through a hard time seeing Kang receive the spotlight on a program recently. News of Kang has consistently come up, and now I'm enduring pain day today." Now, because of the rise in interest, the sexual molestation accusation is now being investigated once again.
As expected, Baekho denied the reports back in June, alongside his agency Pledis, and is currently denying them again. Pledis responded to the reports stating, "The related accusations are not true. We're currently awaiting an investigation. Our side is also starting a lawsuit, and we plan to comply sincerely as needed." Nothing has been officially confirmed yet and no arrests have been made, despite what other false headlines have been saying.
According to other outlets, the victim also reached out to Baekho himself, including Pledis afterward, before heading to the police and filing a claim. The conversation was released on various sites between the two which you can read down below.
OP: Oppa, this is (name blanked out)
OP: Can you talk right now?
Kang Dongho: O.T. (*typo of OK, i think?)
Kang Dongho: ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
Kang Dongho: What's up?
OP: Oppa, do you remember 8 years ago? When you sexually assaulted me?
Kang Dongho: What?
OP: Do you remember sexually assaulting me?
(Dongho tries to call OP)
(Dongho cancels call)
OP: I can't go on call with you right now
OP: Talk through Kakao Talk
OP: Anyway oppa, you remember right?
OP: 8 years ago in the (hakwon name) hakwon car
Kang Dongho: What?
Kang Dongho: Call me later when you can go on call
OP: No
OP: I don't want to go on call with you
OP: Stop trying to gloss over it like that and
OP: Respond
OP: I'm doing this because I want to get over this well and I want to give you a chance, too
OP: So why won't you acknowledge it?
OP: Don't you know that I get angrier the more you act like this?
OP: I didn't message you to ruin your life
OP: So please respond properly
OP: You remember 8 years ago, right?
OP: I've really had a hard time because of that event. Back then I was young so I was scared and your family and my family knows each other and you're friends with my brother so it was disgusting and I hated it but I endured it and pretended to be fine. And you'd come to our house and say hello - do you know how anxious and uncomfortable I was then? You don't think I was okay back then, do you? Anyway it got a little better when you became a trainee and left for the mainland (*TN: as in, left Jeju). But even so it absolutely didn't mean I was fine and they said maybe 1 year later you'd debuted as Nu'est and suddenly I thought, what if this oppa keeps appearing on TV, how am I going to live with these memories? That was the only thing I could think of. But oppa after you debuted with Nu'est you weren't popular in Korea and only worked overseas so I was okay? But then you came on Produce out of the blue, do you know how I felt then? I still remember the feeling of you touching my body 8 years ago vividly even now when I hear your name I think of that and it's really seriously painful. But I stayed quiet because when I thought it would be messing up one person's life, I couldn't easily take action. But anyway now that that program is over I'm telling you, I'd like you to never appear on television again. Really it's awful for me to see your face and hear your voice and see your name, it's so hard I feel like I could die
OP: Why aren't you replying? Is it so hard to apologize? (*sent 11:29, last message sent 10:58)
OP: It might have been nothing for you these past 8 years but not for me
OP: Why are you being so shameless?
she says she made the call after he stopped reading or responding to her messages (shown above) on june 19th. the video of the call (~4 minutes long) is in the pann post. when he picks up she says, "oppa, it's me, (name)" and basically the phone call is the her telling the guy that they need to talk now and the guy saying he's busy and will call them back later, and near the end the caller says, roughly, smth along the lines of "you can't do this to me, you know you're talking to the person you sexually assaulted 8 years ago right?" the guy hangs up, saying he'll call back five minutes later. OP says she waited 50 minutes but didn't receive a call back, so sent a message saying, "It's been nearly 1 hour. Didn't you say you'd call back five minutes later?"
Many fans who are aware of the idol in question still defend him by stating, "It has to be Baekho because his age and name adds up, but is there any evidence or proof? How could this happen on a school bus... "The only proof she has is a yearbook showing that they went to school together - which she hasn't released yet," "Only her friends are backing her up online" and "Isn't it hard to prove something that happened so long ago" What do you think of this ongoing investigation suddenly rising in popularity again? Is Baekho innocent or guilty? Share your thoughts down below.
