Brookfield man convicted on 2 of 6 sex assault charges

DANBURY — A jury has found a Brookfield man accused of sexually assaulting a Danbury woman in 2018 guilty on two of the six charges brought against him.

Yong Sik Kim was charged with first- and third-degree sexual assault, first-degree unlawful restraint, second-degree strangulation, third-degree assault and second-degree threatening after a 2018 Danbury police investigation into a sexual assault complaint.

A woman, described as a coworker in his arrest warrant, claimed Kim attacked her after she invited him to her Danbury apartment to provide a window replacement estimate. After looking at and closing some windows in her apartment, she told police Kim grabbed her and proceeded to physically and sexually assault her.

During a voluntary interview with police, Kim denied sexually assaulting the woman and described himself as the one who was victimized, according to the warrant for his arrest.

“When asked why Jane Doe would make a false accusation of sexual assault, Kim stated Jane Doe is jealous of his relationship with a female coworker (and) speculated that she wanted revenge because she was angry and embarrassed that he had rejected her advances,” the warrant states.

After further investigation — including an interview with the human resources manager of the company where Kim and the alleged victim worked, who told police Kim was placed on administrative leave after the company’s own investigation — Kim was arrested in November 2018 and pleaded not guilty to the charges brought against him.

More than five years later, the now-63-year-old finally had his day in court.

After a weeklong trial at state Superior Court in Danbury,

jury deliberations began Friday afternoon, Feb. 9. Kim’s attorney, Dan Thibodeau, said they came back with a verdict shortly before 1 p.m. Wednesday, finding his client guilty on the two charges of third-degree sexual assault and not guilty on the rest.

“I thought it was the type of case where they either believed him or not, but it was a weird verdict,” Thibodeau said Wednesday.

Thibodeau said he was glad the jury found Kim not guilty of “the most serious charge” of first-degree sexual assault — which he said would have come with a two-year mandatory minimum prison time — but said his client was not completely happy about the verdict.

“He’s still got to do some jail time, so he’s sad about it,” Thibodeau said, noting that Kim is looking at one to six years behind bars.

If he had been convicted on the other charges, Kim would have been looking at nearly 10 years in prison, Thibodeau said.

“It’s not a complete acquittal, but it could have been a lot worse,” Thibodeau said. “It’s mixed feelings, but it is what it is.”

Kim is scheduled to be sentenced May 1 at state Superior Court in Danbury.