By Kim Bo-eun
Prosecutors have vowed to get tougher with those who produce, distribute and help others access child pornography.
The Supreme Prosecutors’ Office said Wednesday even if a person deletes the file after downloading it, they will be regarded as having possessed the material. Those who become involved with child porn for the first time will also be indicted.
The measures come as part of an effort to tackle sex crimes committed against children by trying to eradicate the distribution of obscene material featuring minors.
Those who were involved in the possession or circulation of child porn will be indicted, even if it is their first offense. Even when teenagers are involved, they will have to receive education and counseling or be sent to a Juvenile Court.
Moreover, even if the porn does not feature actual minors, but it is implied in the content, it will be considered child pornography, according to the law revised last March. Prosecutors will also apply the revised law to those who have downloaded the material before March and have kept it.
Prosecutors also said that those who have deleted the content after they downloaded it will be considered to have been in possession and will be punished accordingly.
The prosecution will indict and investigate those who brought minors in for the production of the material. It will also indict those who have circulated large amounts of the obscene content, even if it is regular porn, irrelevant of child porn.
If online service providers do not follow the technological safety procedures to shut out porn, have large quantities of the material online, or film others’ bodies for profit making purposes and circulate it, they will also be indicted.
“The measures we are taking are not temporary ones devised to reflect social demands,” said an official. “We will make an effort to root out child porn by ensuring strict, consistent law enforcement.”