A man in his 20s who sold tens of thousands of sexual exploitation materials for Bitcoin sentenced to 5 years in first trial

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Byung-don] A man in his 20s who downloaded child and adolescent sexual exploitation materials distributed on Telegram's 'n번방' and 'Baksa Bang' and resold them to others was sentenced to prison in the first trial.

The Seoul Eastern District Court's 11th Criminal Division (Chief Judge Son Joo-chul) announced on the 7th that it sentenced Choi Mo (23), who was indicted for downloading, possessing, and distributing tens of thousands of sexual exploitation materials (violating the Act on the Protection of Children and Juveniles from Sexual Abuse, etc.), to five years in prison on the 3rd.

Along with this, he was ordered to complete 40 hours of a sexual violence treatment program, restricted from employment at child and adolescent-related institutions and welfare facilities for the disabled for five years, and fined 601,749 KRW.

The court stated the sentencing reason: "The act of selling obscene materials involving children and adolescents seriously distorts people's sexual awareness and furthermore provides inducement for sexual exploitation acts against children and adolescents, so it is not a crime to be treated lightly." It added, "Knowing that the obscene materials were distributed in the so-called 'n번방' and 'Baksa Bang', he downloaded and sold them to third parties, which increases the blameworthiness."

Choi, who was serving as a social service agent, was tried for downloading and storing child and adolescent sexual exploitation materials on Telegram from March to April this year and selling them to five people for about 600,000 KRW worth of Bitcoin through dark web sites.

The period when Choi committed the crime coincided with the time when Jo Joo-bin, the operator of 'Baksa Bang', was arrested and the Telegram sexual exploitation case came to light. It was found that he redistributed the sexual exploitation videos he possessed, knowing they were related to n번방 and Baksa Bang, for money.

It was investigated that the videos Choi sold to third parties included 3,211 child and adolescent sexual exploitation materials, totaling over 30,000 items.