"Clothing, Background, and Situation Settings Suggest the Character Is Under 19 Years Old"
The Supreme Court has ruled that comics depicting student characters in school uniforms engaging in sexual acts also fall under the category of child sexual exploitation material. Photo by Yonhap News
[Asia Economy Reporter Hana Na] A court ruling has determined that comics depicting characters dressed in school uniforms engaging in sexual acts constitute child and adolescent pornography (CAP).
On the 14th, the Suwon District Court stated in the retrial of A (47), the representative of a file-sharing site, "Considering the characteristics attributed to the expressions in the animated video in question, it is clear that the characters are set to be under 19 years old, and objectively, from the perspective of an average person in society, they can be clearly recognized as adolescents."
A was prosecuted for failing to delete CAP videos uploaded in the 'Adult Anime' category on the site from May 2010 to April 2013.
The video in question was an animation featuring student characters wearing school uniforms engaging in sexual acts with teachers or classmates in locations such as school classrooms, infirmaries, and gymnasiums.
The key issue in this case was whether animations featuring fictional characters could be considered CAP. The first and second trials acquitted A of violating the Act on the Protection of Children and Juveniles Against Sexual Abuse (production and distribution of obscene materials), stating, "Although the video includes female characters wearing clothing similar to school uniforms engaging in sexual acts, there is no background information about the characters' identities, and based on their appearance and physical development, there is sufficient possibility to consider them adult characters."
However, in November 2019, the Supreme Court overturned the previous rulings, stating, "Even if certain body parts are depicted as somewhat mature, it is clear from the creator's use of clothing, background, and situational settings that the characters are set to be under 19 years old."
The Suwon District Court, as the retrial court, reaffirmed this Supreme Court ruling. However, it also noted, "A allowed users to report suspected CAP materials at any time, took technical measures to detect CAP by analyzing the characteristics of online materials, and fulfilled the responsibilities expected of a site operator," and thus, like the previous retrial, acquitted A of violating the CAP Act. The fact that multiple acquittals were issued in lower courts was also taken into consideration.
As a result, A was only fined 5 million won for the initially recognized charge of violating the Information and Communications Network Act (aiding the distribution of obscene materials), and since the prosecution abandoned further appeals, this sentence has become final.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
