Court Issues Consecutive Crackdowns on Possessors of 'Child and Adolescent Sexual Exploitation Videos'

Order for Registration with Personal Information Authority and Employment Restrictions

[Asia Economy Reporter Ra Young-cheol] The court has consecutively sentenced individuals who simply possessed child and adolescent sexual exploitation videos to suspended sentences, disclosure of personal information, and employment restrictions.

The Criminal Division 11 of Uijeongbu District Court (Chief Judge Lee Moon-se) announced on the 22nd that "Defendant A, who was indicted for violating the Act on the Protection of Children and Juveniles from Sexual Abuse (possession of sexual exploitation materials), was sentenced to 8 months in prison with a 2-year suspension, ordered to attend 40 hours of sexual violence treatment lectures, and required to register personal information with the relevant authorities upon finalization of the verdict."

In the ruling, the court stated, "The system used by the police is merely a tool to identify already public IPs, and the videos downloaded by the defendant can be presumed to be child and adolescent sexual exploitation materials based on their titles alone," judging all charges against Defendant A as guilty.

Defendant A was indicted for downloading and storing six video files depicting sexual acts involving children and adolescents on a computer at his home in June of last year.

Although Defendant A deleted the videos three hours after viewing them, the court ruled guilty.

Defendant A claimed in court that "the collection of IP addresses was illegal wiretapping violating the Communications Privacy Protection Act, and that he downloaded the materials without knowing they were child and adolescent sexual exploitation materials," but the court did not accept this argument.

Meanwhile, other courts have also handed down suspended sentences to defendants indicted on the same charges.

Defendant B was indicted for downloading 210 child and adolescent sexual exploitation materials through an internet community at his home, and Defendant C was indicted for downloading 30 such materials over five months in a mobile phone chat room during military service; both received 8 months in prison with a 2-year suspension.

Defendant D was indicted for paying 100,000 won to access a mobile phone channel where obscene materials could be viewed and downloading and possessing 421 child and adolescent sexual exploitation materials over one week, and was sentenced to 6 months in prison with a 2-year suspension.

All courts commonly judged that sexual exploitation videos targeting children and adolescents are not obscene materials but serious evidence and results of crimes in themselves.

Defendants B and the other two were ordered by their respective courts to attend 40 hours of sexual violence treatment lectures, face employment restrictions for 3 years at child and adolescent-related institutions and welfare facilities for the disabled, and register their personal information.

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