"You're the operator of the abuse room, right?"... Two peers arrested for detaining and assaulting a wrong teenage boy

Lured and Detained for Private Sanctions
Live Video Shared to Receive Donations

Two teenagers were arrested and brought to trial for mistaking an innocent person as the operator of a Telegram Nungyokbang (deepfake sexual exploitation illegal synthesis material sharing) channel, committing cruel acts against them, and even broadcasting the incident.

On the 12th, the Criminal Division 3 of the Ansan Branch of Suwon District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Kim Young-jun) indicted two teenagers, including teenager A, on charges of special aggravated confinement and injury, according to a report by Yonhap News Agency on the same day.

The Suwon District Prosecutors' Office building. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

Teenager A and others are accused of luring, confining, and assaulting teenager B, a minor they met while participating in the Telegram 'Nungyokbang' channel, on the 26th of last month.

They reportedly lured B outside by saying, "I know your home address, so let's meet," and then took him to A's residence. At the house, A and others hit B on the back of his head, cut his hair, and shaved his eyebrows. They also subjected B to cruel acts such as forcing him to strip and dance.

They claimed that B was the operator of the Nungyokbang channel because he was actively participating in conversations there, and committed the crimes under the pretext of punishment. However, the prosecution's investigation revealed that B was not the operator of the Nungyokbang channel and did not possess any deepfake illegal synthesis materials. However, 2 to 3 illegal recordings of women’s backs were found on B’s mobile phone, and he was indicted on charges of violating sexual violence punishment laws (filming using cameras, etc.).

A and his group broadcast the assault on B live for about 30 minutes on a Telegram revenge channel and even received donations. Their crime was uncovered after a viewer who saw the Telegram video reported it to the police. The police are investigating whether there are accomplices who instructed A and his group to commit the crime. The prosecution stated, "We will thoroughly investigate the operators of 'revenge channels' who seek profit through sensational content disguised as private punishment, in close cooperation with the police."