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Cho Ju-bin: 40 years jail for South Korean chatroom sex abuse group leader
Published16 minutes ago
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IMAGE COPYRIGHTREUTERS
image captionCho Ju-bin photographed outside the police station earlier this year, wearing a neck brace
A South Korean court has sentenced the mastermind of one of the country's biggest online sex abuse rings to 40 years in jail.
Cho Ju-bin was found guilty of running a group which blackmailed girls into sharing sexual videos that were then posted in pay-to-view chatrooms.
At least 10,000 people used the chatrooms, with some paying up to $1,200 (£1,000) for access.
Some 74 people, including 16 underage girls, were exploited.
"The accused has widely distributed sexually abusive content that he created by luring and threatening many victims," the Seoul Central District Court said on Thursday, according to Yonhap news agency.
It said Cho was found guilty of violating laws to protect children from sexual abuse and for running a criminal ring which produced and sold abusive videos in order to make a profit.
Cho's criminal syndicate sold the videos it acquired through blackmail to secretive chatrooms on the Telegram app.
In March, a police committee took the unusual step of naming Cho, a 25-year-old college graduate, after five million people signed petitions asking for his anonymity to be lifted.
Women's advocates have been watching the case carefully, said the BBC's Laura Bicker in Seoul, as courts in South Korea are often accused of being too lenient to those found guilty of digital sex crimes.
More than 80,000 letters of petitions were dropped off at the court urging judges to punish the gang. One letter from a victim described Cho as evil.
The 40-year jail term announced on Thursday falls short of the life sentence sought by prosecutors.
Five other defendants have received sentences ranging from seven to 15 years.
Published16 minutes ago
Share
image captionCho Ju-bin photographed outside the police station earlier this year, wearing a neck brace
A South Korean court has sentenced the mastermind of one of the country's biggest online sex abuse rings to 40 years in jail.
Cho Ju-bin was found guilty of running a group which blackmailed girls into sharing sexual videos that were then posted in pay-to-view chatrooms.
At least 10,000 people used the chatrooms, with some paying up to $1,200 (£1,000) for access.
Some 74 people, including 16 underage girls, were exploited.
"The accused has widely distributed sexually abusive content that he created by luring and threatening many victims," the Seoul Central District Court said on Thursday, according to Yonhap news agency.
It said Cho was found guilty of violating laws to protect children from sexual abuse and for running a criminal ring which produced and sold abusive videos in order to make a profit.
Cho's criminal syndicate sold the videos it acquired through blackmail to secretive chatrooms on the Telegram app.
In March, a police committee took the unusual step of naming Cho, a 25-year-old college graduate, after five million people signed petitions asking for his anonymity to be lifted.
Women's advocates have been watching the case carefully, said the BBC's Laura Bicker in Seoul, as courts in South Korea are often accused of being too lenient to those found guilty of digital sex crimes.
More than 80,000 letters of petitions were dropped off at the court urging judges to punish the gang. One letter from a victim described Cho as evil.
The 40-year jail term announced on Thursday falls short of the life sentence sought by prosecutors.
Five other defendants have received sentences ranging from seven to 15 years.
