Camera Installed in Motel Room Vent and Computers
Victims Number Over 230
Court: "Method of Crime Extremely Malicious"
A man in his 20s of Chinese nationality, who was prosecuted for secretly installing hidden cameras in motels around Gwanak-gu, Seoul, and illegally filming over 230 guests, was sentenced to prison.
On the 20th, Judge Lee Seung-ho of the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 12 sentenced the Chinese national A (27), who was detained and indicted on charges of violating the Sexual Violence Punishment Act (filming and distribution using cameras, etc.), to two years in prison and ordered him to complete 40 hours of a sexual violence treatment program. He was also banned from working at child and youth-related institutions and welfare facilities for the disabled for three years.
A was arrested and indicted last October on charges of illegally filming the nude and sexual acts of 236 guests about 120 times by installing illegal filming devices in the ventilation ducts and computer cases of seven rooms in three motels in Gwanak-gu, Seoul, over approximately four months starting in April this year.
The Chinese national A entered Korea in February 2017 on a short-term tourist visa but did not return to his home country and is known to have worked at construction sites and other places. Investigations revealed that he meticulously carried out his criminal activities by using his girlfriend’s mobile phone and credit card and booking accommodations under an alias.
It is reported that the number of videos illegally filmed by A reached 1.4 million. However, the videos he possessed were not found to have been distributed or sold.
The court stated the sentencing rationale, saying, "The method of installing devices in motels frequented by many people is reprehensible, and the possession of numerous videos targeting multiple victims is very serious. However, the fact that he has no prior criminal record in Korea is considered a mitigating factor."
Article 14 of the Special Act on the Punishment of Sexual Crimes currently stipulates that anyone who films a person’s body that may arouse sexual desire or shame against the subject’s will using a camera or other similar device shall be punished by imprisonment for up to seven years or a fine of up to 50 million won.
However, related crimes have shown an increasing trend for two consecutive years recently. According to data received by Jeong Woo-taek, a member of the National Assembly’s Public Administration and Security Committee from the National Police Agency in October, the total number of illegal filming crimes over the past five years (2018?2022) reached 29,796 cases. By year, there were 5,925 cases in 2018, 5,762 in 2019, and 5,032 in 2020, showing a decrease, but the numbers rose again to 6,212 in 2021 and 6,865 in 2022.
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