An active-duty police officer has been arrested on charges of using artificial intelligence to create nude images of acquaintances and possessing thousands of sexually explicit materials.
After infiltrating a Telegram chat room undercover to track down the suspect, the police found that the person caught was an active-duty officer working at a police station in Seoul.
It was revealed that the police officer had a history of being investigated for a similar offense and receiving a suspension of indictment prior to joining the police force.
According to the police and other sources, Police Officer A attached to the Seoul Dongdaemun Police Station was arrested last month on charges including the possession of sexually explicit materials and fake videos, as well as the production and distribution of fake videos.
In December of last year, the Busan Provincial Police Agency obtained court permission to conduct an undercover investigation with a concealed identity to probe a Telegram chat room where fake videos were being circulated.
Investigators concealed their identities to infiltrate the chat room and tracked the distributor for months. Eventually, a suspect was identified as Police Officer A, who worked in the traffic division of the Seoul Dongdaemun Police Station.
The police raided and seized Police Officer A's mobile phone and other items in August.
Initially, the crime stated in the search and seizure warrant was the distribution of three fake videos.
However, the scale expanded significantly upon analyzing the mobile phone.
The total number of videos found in Police Officer A's possession reached approximately 5,600, including about 2,600 fake videos, about 1,600 child and adolescent sexual exploitation materials, and about 1,300 illegally filmed videos.
It was also revealed that the suspect did not simply collect videos, but directly produced about 400 fake videos depicting acquaintances as naked using an AI app from March 2022 to July of this year.
The investigation showed that he also produced illegally filmed footage of women's bodies.
He is also accused of distributing dozens of fake videos in a Telegram chat room from August of last year to April of this year.
Police Officer A, who joined the police force in April 2024, began committing the crimes about two years before becoming a police officer and continued the offenses even after joining the force.
Police Officer A reportedly confessed to the crimes once the investigation gained momentum.
The Dongdaemun Police Station stated that it placed Police Officer A on standby duty immediately upon receiving notice of the investigation, and he is currently relieved of his duties.
Reported by Kim Minjeong | Video by Na Hong-hee | Graphics by Lee Jeong-ju | Produced by SBS Digital News
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