Telegram chat room operator indicted for sexual exploitation

SEOUL, April 13 (Yonhap) -- The leader of a high-profile digital sexual exploitation ring was indicted and referred for court trial Monday for allegedly producing and distributing sexual exploitation materials online for profits, prosecutors said.

Cho Ju-bin is accused of blackmailing female victims, including underage girls, into providing their sexual videos from last May to February, which were then posted in his pay-to-view chat room, dubbed "Baksabang," meaning doctor's room in Korean, on the Telegram messenger service, according to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office.

At least 25 people, including eight underage girls, have been confirmed to be exploited by Cho, the prosecution said.

Cho allegedly had a co-conspirator attempt to sexually assault a 15-year-old girl last October after threatening to disclose her nude photo. He allegedly made similar threats to three other victims last year.

The 24-year-old man is suspected of selling abusive sexual materials obtained from his victims through blackmail to Baksabang's paid members, estimated to reach 15,000, in exchange for cryptocurrencies.

The prosecution requested a seizure of Cho's 15 cryptocurrency wallets and securities deposits and stocks, as well as a preservation of 130 million won (US$106,700) in cash confiscated from him.

Cho allegedly enlisted the aid of three main accomplices in the operations of the Baksabang chat room and two of them have been arrested, with another remaining at large.

Local courts have issued pretrial detention warrants for the two accomplices -- an Army soldier and an 18-year-old man -- on charges of having recruited and managed Baksabang's paid members and delivering criminal proceeds from the chat room to Cho.

A former public service worker was also arrested April 3 for allegedly making illegal inquiries into personal information of hundreds of people and leaking that information to Cho.

Prosecutors said they will conduct further investigations into Cho and his accomplices before deciding whether to apply the charge of organization of a criminal group to them.

Meanwhile, police have obtained the nicknames of about 15,000 paid members of Baksabang from digital data secured from Cho and are now tracking down their personal identity information.

So far, 10 of them have been booked for possessing child sexual exploitation materials. A man in his 40s took his own life in Seoul last month after leaving a suicide note in which he said he regrets paying money to Baksabang and feels sorry for the victims.

ycm@yna.co.kr
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