Over 4,000 Child Sexual Exploitation Offenders... Arrest Rate Only 6%

"Trend of Judging Damage as Minor" Criticized

Over the past 3 years and 7 months, more than 4,000 people have been arrested by the police on charges including the production and distribution of child sexual exploitation materials, but only 261 have been referred to the prosecution.

According to data received by Rep. Hwang Jeong-ah of the Democratic Party from the National Police Agency on the 17th, from 2021 to July of this year, there were a total of 4,763 cases detected by the police for violations of Article 11 of the Youth Protection Act, which prohibits the production and distribution of child and adolescent sexual exploitation materials. By year, the cases were ▲1,747 in 2021 ▲1,052 each in 2022 and 2023 ▲912 from January to July this year. The number of people arrested was ▲1,331 in 2021 ▲986 in 2022 ▲978 in 2023 ▲762 from January to July this year.

However, among the total 2,057 people arrested over the 3 years and 7 months, only 6.4% (261 people) were sent to the prosecution while in custody. It was also confirmed that separate statistics are not compiled for each crime type, such as victim reports and simple possession or viewing.

The Youth Protection Act, revised in 2020 following the 'Nth Room incident,' strengthened sentencing to impose at least one year of imprisonment even on those who purchase, simply possess, or view child and adolescent sexual exploitation materials. Rep. Hwang pointed out, "Even after the Nth Room incident, investigative authorities tend to still regard the extent of child sexual exploitation damage as minor," adding, "In a situation where there are many calls to strengthen penalties for sexual exploitation materials such as deepfakes, clear status analysis of child sexual exploitation crimes is necessary to establish proper countermeasures."

Meanwhile, digital sex crimes such as deepfake sexual crime materials (false videos created by synthesizing faces or body parts using artificial intelligence technology) have recently emerged as a serious social problem. The National Police Agency arrested 318 suspects from January 1 to the 10th of this year. Among the suspects, 251 (78.9%) were teenagers, including 63 'chokbeopsonyeon' (criminally immature minors aged 10 or older but under 14).

As deepfake sexual crimes based on Telegram have occurred repeatedly, the National Police Agency has been conducting a special intensive crackdown for seven months from the 28th of last month until March 31 of next year.