'70 Male Students Sexually Exploited' Choi Chan-wook: "I Was Rather Forced to Play the 'Master Role'"

Sexual Exploitation of Elementary and Middle School Boys
Partially Denies Charges in Court, Claiming "Victims Wanted It More Strongly"

Choi Chan-wook (26), who is accused of sexually assaulting a minor and producing and distributing sexual exploitation materials, is being transferred to the prosecution after leaving Dunsan Police Station in Seo-gu, Daejeon on the morning of June 24. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyun-joo] Choi Chan-wook (26), who was arrested and indicted on charges of sexually exploiting a total of 70 male minors, denied some of the charges in court, claiming that he never threatened or coerced the victims.

The 11th Criminal Division of the Daejeon District Court (Presiding Judge Park Heon-haeng) held the second pretrial hearing for Choi, who was charged with violating the Act on the Protection of Children and Juveniles from Sexual Abuse, habitual quasi-rape of minors, and threats using recorded materials.

Choi’s defense denied the charges of threats, coercion, forced molestation, and quasi-rape of minors, stating, "While playing a master-slave roleplay, the slaves (victims) actually wanted stronger actions," and "Although I asked them to record and send videos, it was just part of the play, and there was absolutely no coercion or threats."

He added, "Rather, I was coerced to faithfully play the role of the master," and "However, this does not apply to all victims and it is difficult to specify who."

Regarding the charges of forcibly molesting and raping some victims in person, he denied them, saying, "It is difficult to specify the victims," and "If they are identified during the trial, I will consider whether to admit or deny."

Choi is accused of using a total of 30 social networking service (SNS) accounts from 2016 until last April to approach 70 child victims, deceiving them into exchanging nude photos and receiving sexually exploitative videos. During this process, Choi impersonated a soccer coach and female children to approach the victims.

He is also charged with quasi-rape of two victims under the age of 16 in person on five occasions and forcibly molesting another victim three times.

Meanwhile, the prosecution initially requested to change the indictment to increase the number of sexually exploited child and adolescent victims from 65 to 70, which the court accepted. The court plans to complete all pretrial preparations for this case by next month on the 5th, following Choi’s defense request for more time to review the evidence records.

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