Threatened "I'll report you" after selling obscene material... 20s extorted money from buyers

Daegu District Court Sentences 4 Months Imprisonment with 1 Year Probation

A man in his 20s who sold obscene materials through social networking services (SNS), obtained personal information, and then threatened buyers by saying "I will report you to the police" was sentenced to prison.

On the 18th, Judge Lee Won-jae of the Daegu District Court Criminal Division 2 announced that A (20), who was indicted for selling obscene materials through SNS and extorting money by threatening buyers (violation of the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection, etc.), was sentenced to 4 months in prison with a 1-year probation.

Between June and October 2022, A posted on his SNS that he was "selling child and adolescent sexual exploitation materials." He was prosecuted for distributing obscene materials to three people, including B, who contacted him after seeing the post and paid 40,000 won to receive the materials. While selling obscene materials to B, A asked for B’s personal information and contact details, claiming that the materials could be distributed to others, thereby obtaining B’s personal information. Afterwards, A threatened B by saying, "I will report you to the police for purchasing and possessing child and adolescent sexual exploitation materials," and extorted about 3.2 million won. He also attempted the same crime against another buyer, C, but failed as C did not comply.

The court pointed out, "Considering the circumstances and content of the crime, the defendant’s criminal nature is not good, and the victims suffered considerable mental distress." It added, "However, the sentence was determined considering that the defendant reached settlements with two victims and that his parents pledged to guide him."

Earlier last month, a minor who extorted tens of millions of won by threatening buyers of obscene materials using a similar method was sentenced to prison. In December last year, Judge Hong Eun-ah of the Daegu District Court Criminal Division 10 sentenced D (18), who was indicted for violating the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection, etc., to 1 year and 4 months in long-term imprisonment and 10 months in short-term imprisonment.

Like A, D obtained the personal information of buyers of obscene materials under the pretext of "preventing resale." Afterwards, he told buyers, "The woman in the video is my sister. Since it is child and adolescent sexual exploitation material, I will sue," and extorted about 60 million won from several people as settlement money, leading to his prosecution.

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