Smartphone with Telephoto Lens... 20-Year-Old Sentenced to 5 Years in Prison for Illegal Filming of Adjacent Building

Production of Child and Adolescent Sexual Exploitation Material
Court: "The Crime Is Not Light"

A man in his 20s who attached a telephoto lens to his smartphone to illegally film several residents of a neighboring building and even produced sexual exploitation materials involving children and adolescents was sentenced to prison.

On the 29th, according to the legal community, the Criminal Division 15 of Suwon District Court (Chief Judge Lee Jeong-jae) sentenced Mr. A (27), who was tried on charges of violating the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment of Sexual Crimes and the Act on the Protection of Children and Juveniles from Sexual Abuse, to five years in prison. He was also ordered to complete 80 hours of a sexual violence treatment program and was banned from employment at institutions related to children, adolescents, and persons with disabilities for seven years.

Mr. A is accused of secretly filming multiple victims 53 times from July last year to February this year by attaching a telephoto lens for mobile phones to his smartphone and filming the body of a female victim who had just finished showering in an apartment building next to his residence. He also downloaded and possessed thousands of child and adolescent sexual exploitation materials from mid-2018 to recently, and directly produced 146 sexual exploitation materials by contacting children and adolescents he met through mobile phone applications or online messengers.

The court stated, "The defendant used a telephoto lens to film the bodies of multiple victims living in adjacent buildings and possessed numerous child and adolescent sexual exploitation materials for a long period. The types of crimes committed by the defendant to satisfy his sexual desires are diverse, the number of victims is large, and the crime period is long, so the culpability is not light. Also, the victims suffered considerable sexual shame and mental distress."

Regarding the sentencing reasons, the court explained, "However, the defendant admitted to all the crimes and deeply reflected on his wrongdoing, and considering that the defendant’s family pledged to guide him and petitioned for leniency."