SEOUL-- A military public defender was questioned Tuesday for allegedly failing to provide adequate help to a sexually abused Air Force noncommissioned officer as military prosecutors expanded an investigation into what led the victim to take her own life.

The questioning came after the victim's family filed a complaint against the public defender last week on charges of dereliction of duty, saying the lawyer did not take due steps for the victim, only making a few phone calls and sending text messages without having a single face-to-face meeting.

Military prosecutors also questioned an Air Force warrant officer for allegedly sexually harassing the victim, a master sergeant surnamed Lee, during an office dinner about a year ago in a separate case from the latest abuse in March.

The bereaved family recently filed a complaint against the warrant officer, claiming that the case went unresolved as the military tried to conceal it. He is one of the three people who currently face charges of sexually abusing Lee.

The suspect in the latest abuse was arrested earlier this month on charges of groping and other abuse against Lee during a car ride back to their unit after a drinking session. A third suspect was detained on Saturday for a separate sexual harassment case.

Despite repeated appeals from the victim, the latest sexual abuse case was not properly handled until she took her own life last month and the case became known to the media, sparking intense public fury and leading to an extensive probe.

According to the ministry, seven Air Force service members from the 15th Special Missions Wing also faced probe for allegedly inflicting "secondary harm" on the victim, such as bullying or ostracizing her after the sexual abuse case.

The victim was affiliated with the 20th Wing when the incident took place and then was transferred to the 15th Wing in May in accordance with her application. But the bereaved family claimed that she was treated badly by some members of the new unit. Just days after being transferred, she committed suicide.

Three officials from the 20th Fighter Wing's prosecution were also called in on suspicions that they did not actively launch a probe into the March case, and the prosecutors also raided several offices of the Air Force and a military data center to secure related documents and communication data to see if there were any attempts to conceal or play down the case.

"A 21-member special audit team also probed about 100 people related to the incident, including the command group, to look into whether their reporting and supervision system worked properly, and they carried out due missions to protect the victim," the ministry said, hinting that more could be formally called in for questioning.

Later in the day, the bereaved family was questioned by military prosecutors, and submitted additional pieces of evidence to prove damage the victim had suffered.

Last week, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Lee Seong-yong offered to resign, holding himself responsible for the case, and President Moon Jae-in accepted the offer immediately.

Source: Yonhap News Agency