First case: Man arrested over sex abuse video downloads
Gettyimagesbank
A man has been arrested in Korea for allegedly possessing illegally filmed sexual footage, in the first case of its kind in the country, police said Tuesday.
According to the Busan Metropolitan Police Agency, the man, in his 20s, is suspected of downloading hundreds of photos and videos depicting child sexual abuse and saved them to his PCs and mobile phones.
Police said the man also possessed footage of unidentified women he illegally filmed.
This was the first arrest made since a revised anti-sex crime law requiring punishment of possessors of illegally filmed material took effect on May 19, according to the police.
Under the revised law, those who possess, purchase, download or watch illegally filmed material or their copied versions can be jailed up to three years or fined up to 30 million won ($25,888). The original law only punished those who produced, distributed or sold such materials.
The revision came as public outrage swelled after a massive digital sex crime ring involving a string of sexual exploitation cases centered on Telegram group chatrooms was busted earlier this year. Dozens of women and girls were blackmailed into providing sexual videos and photos for the pay-to-view rooms in the case.
"Acts of possessing materials unlawfully filmed or distributed without the consent of the victims can be sternly punished under the revised laws," a police officer said. (Yonhap)