The Seoul Central District Court on Thursday upheld a lower court ruling that sentenced a former senior prosecutor to a suspended jail term of eight months for molesting two women -- a junior prosecutor and a prosecutor-turned-lawyer.

The court also ordered him to attend 40 hours of lectures for sex offenders.

The 49-year-old offender surnamed Kim molested a junior female prosecutor at a dinner gathering in January while he was working at the Goyang branch of the Uijeongbu District Prosecutors’ Office. In June last year, Kim harassed a female lawyer, who is a former prosecutor.

Kim was arrested in February after a probe by an inquiry team dedicated to the investigation of sexual misconduct under the Justice Ministry.

The team was launched in the wake of a revelation by Seo Ji-hyun, a prosecutor who alleged on a television news program that senior prosecutor Ahn Tae-geun had molested her at the funeral of a colleague’s father.

By Kim So-hyun (sophie@heraldcorp.com)