20s Acquitted for Downloading 657 Child Sexual Exploitation Files from 'Telegram n-bunbang'

Court: "File names with alphabets and numbers... difficult to determine if they are sexual exploitation materials"

A man in his 20s who was charged with downloading 657 child and adolescent sexual exploitation materials from the Telegram 'Nth Room' was acquitted.

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoon Seul-gi] A man in his 20s who was accused of downloading and possessing over 600 child and adolescent sexual exploitation materials from the Telegram 'n번방' was acquitted.

The Ulsan District Court Criminal Division 11 (Chief Judge Park Hyun-bae) announced on the 25th that it had acquitted Mr. A, who was prosecuted for violating the Act on the Protection of Children and Juveniles Against Sexual Abuse.

Earlier, Mr. A was indicted for downloading 657 photos and videos of child and adolescent sexual exploitation materials through the Telegram 'n번방' at his residence in Buk-gu, Ulsan, in February 2020, and storing them on a personal server (cloud).

During the trial, Mr. A admitted to possessing obscene materials but claimed that he had never accessed the n번방 and was unaware that the materials were child and adolescent sexual exploitation content.

The court stated, "It appears that a significant number of the photos and videos downloaded by the defendant correspond to child and adolescent sexual exploitation materials," but added, "Except for one, the file names consist only of combinations of numbers and English alphabets, so it is impossible to know what the photos and videos contain."

Furthermore, the court explained, "Although the photos and videos were initially distributed by the main perpetrators of the 'n번방 sexual exploitation case,' 'GodGod' (Moon Hyung-wook) and 'Doctor's Room' (Jo Joo-bin), they have since spread through other channels," and "Based solely on the evidence submitted by the prosecutors, it is difficult to conclude that the defendant knew the reality of n번방 or that he downloaded the materials knowing they were child and adolescent sexual exploitation materials distributed by 'GodGod' or 'Doctor's Room.'" This was given as the reason for the sentencing.