Seoul City, in Cooperation with Police, Makes First Arrests of Three 'Digital Sex Crime Offenders'

'Visiting Support Companions' Provide Close Assistance from Complaint Drafting to Police Investigation Accompaniment
Expansion of Online Grooming Crimes Targeting Children and Adolescents with Increased Online Access Since COVID-19

Example of a conversation in a case of arrest

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced on the 6th that the 'Visiting Support Companion,' operated to assist victims of digital sexual crimes among children and adolescents, cooperated with the police to apprehend three perpetrators.

According to the city, the apprehended perpetrators were male students in their teens to early twenties who mainly lured children and adolescents who could not attend school due to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and stayed at home all day. They all exploited the anonymity of online spaces such as games, chat apps, and social networking services (SNS) to approach victims, providing emotional support while committing crimes by exploiting photos or videos.

Kang Mo (19), who dreams of becoming an actor, was offered a role in a movie, then threatened with the distribution of photos, sexually assaulted, and demanded money. Lee Mo (11), who often played games alone because both parents worked, was comforted with "You must not want to hear your mom's nagging," while Park Mo (13) was approached with "Let's play a naughty game" and asked for revealing photos or videos.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government explained that through the Visiting Support Companion, after receiving reports of these digital sexual crime victims, they provided close support throughout the entire process, including evidence collection, complaint preparation, police station testimony support, and legal and litigation assistance, leading to the arrest of the perpetrators. They also support follow-up care such as psychological treatment for the victims.

The city also analyzed that, as all perpetrators in this case were in their teens to twenties, the age of perpetrators of digital sexual crimes against children and adolescents is becoming very young, as well as the victims.

Looking at the counseling performance supported by the Visiting Support Companion, the number of child and adolescent victims was 10 (13.5% of total victims) in the early support period (October 2019 to mid-March 2020), but from mid-March this year to recently, it increased more than twice to 21 (24.1%), showing a growing trend in digital sexual crime victim support targeting children and adolescents.

In particular, cases of online grooming or illegal filming of children under 13, which did not exist before the Telegram N-bunbang incident, increased to as many as 104 cases (including duplicates) after the N-bunbang incident. This is interpreted as a result of expanded social awareness of digital sexual crime victims and an increase in requests for victim support.

Song Da-young, Director of the Seoul Metropolitan Government's Women and Family Policy Office, said, "Digital sexual crimes continue to increase even after the N-bunbang incident," adding, "As malicious crimes targeting children and adolescents who cannot attend school and stay at home due to COVID-19 are increasing, we will utilize all available authority to provide comprehensive and practical support from prevention to legal support services."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.