Police should step up crackdown on heinous cybercrimes
A suspect identified only as "L," who had threatened minors to produce sexually exploitative digital materials and circulated them through Telegram, was arrested in Australia last Wednesday. The suspect, a Korean man in his 20s, had lived in Australia for the last 10 years. Upon confirming his identity, police made a red notice request to Interpol and arrested L in cooperation with Australian police. He will be repatriated to Korea soon.
The suspect's sex crime operation has been called the "second Nth Room," nicknamed after the horrendous Telegram-based cybersex trafficking ring from 2018 to 2020. However, L's methods were cleverer and more vicious. L, who started his crime ring in December 2020 when the police investigation into Nth Room case was in full swing, approached minors by disguising himself as a member of the police or civilian tracking squad that first uncovered the Nth Room case. The current system that begins an investigation only after receiving reports is bound to show limitations in blocking such bold crimes.
L even left a message on Telegram in May last year, saying, "I can never get caught." The suspect was emboldened because he used Telegram, which has its servers overseas where domestic investigative agencies cannot seek help. L changed his online ID frequently, operated about 30 group chats, closing them frequently and opening new ones to avoid tracking. Nevertheless, police hastily judged that sexually exploitative materials had not been circulated, failing in their initial probes. They need to reform the overall investigation system for online sex crimes.
In 2000, the United Nations warned against the dangers of sexual exploitation of underage people in an internet era. Korea was stigmatized as "a den of global sexual exploiters," but its law enforcement authorities have responded lukewarmly. Although they toughened criminal punishment somewhat about two years ago, the overall response, such as prior monitoring and victim protection, remains poor. Authorities should step up efforts to show criminals exploiting minors there is nowhere to hide anywhere in the world, no matter what means they use.
A suspect identified only as "L," who had threatened minors to produce sexually exploitative digital materials and circulated them through Telegram, was arrested in Australia last Wednesday. The suspect, a Korean man in his 20s, had lived in Australia for the last 10 years. Upon confirming his identity, police made a red notice request to Interpol and arrested L in cooperation with Australian police. He will be repatriated to Korea soon.
The suspect's sex crime operation has been called the "second Nth Room," nicknamed after the horrendous Telegram-based cybersex trafficking ring from 2018 to 2020. However, L's methods were cleverer and more vicious. L, who started his crime ring in December 2020 when the police investigation into Nth Room case was in full swing, approached minors by disguising himself as a member of the police or civilian tracking squad that first uncovered the Nth Room case. The current system that begins an investigation only after receiving reports is bound to show limitations in blocking such bold crimes.
L even left a message on Telegram in May last year, saying, "I can never get caught." The suspect was emboldened because he used Telegram, which has its servers overseas where domestic investigative agencies cannot seek help. L changed his online ID frequently, operated about 30 group chats, closing them frequently and opening new ones to avoid tracking. Nevertheless, police hastily judged that sexually exploitative materials had not been circulated, failing in their initial probes. They need to reform the overall investigation system for online sex crimes.
In 2000, the United Nations warned against the dangers of sexual exploitation of underage people in an internet era. Korea was stigmatized as "a den of global sexual exploiters," but its law enforcement authorities have responded lukewarmly. Although they toughened criminal punishment somewhat about two years ago, the overall response, such as prior monitoring and victim protection, remains poor. Authorities should step up efforts to show criminals exploiting minors there is nowhere to hide anywhere in the world, no matter what means they use.
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