Top court confirms additional 5-year term for mastermind of sex abuse ring on top of 42-year sentence

The Supreme Court on Thursday confirmed a five-year prison term for Cho Ju-bin, the mastermind of a notorious online sex blackmail ring, for sexually assaulting a minor, adding to his 42-year sentence for distributing sexually exploitative materials involving minors. The top court upheld a lower court ruling that convicted the 29-year-old of sexually exploiting and raping a minor in 2019, rejecting Cho's appeal and bringing his total sentence to 47 years. The ruling comes after the court confirmed Cho's 42-year conviction in October 2021 on charges of organizing a criminal ring, blackmailing dozens of minor and adult victims into filming sexually exploitative content, and distributing them to members of a pay-to-view Telegram chat room, called Baksabang. Cho committed his online sexual offenses from May 2019 to February 2020 before his arrest in March 2020. A string of sexual exploitation cases centered on group chat rooms, including Baksabang, drew nationwide outcry at the time, prompting the government to announce tough measures against digital sex crimes.Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times