Court Rules AI-Generated Images Depicting Colleague as 'Lover' Constitute Sex Crime

[Anchor]

Back in April, a senior official at a district office in Seoul was brought to trial for creating AI-generated images using a female colleague's photo to portray them as lovers. Six months after SBS's initial report, a court has ruled that the act constitutes a sex crime.

Reporter An Huijae has the details.

[Reporter]

A woman in a tight sleeveless top and jeans embraces a middle-aged man, looking up at him with her hand on his shoulder.

Last November, official A, a mid-level manager at the Guro District Office in Seoul, downloaded a photo of female colleague B from the internal network. Using a generative AI tool along with his own photo, he created several such composite images.

He posted them on his KakaoTalk profile. After seeing them, victim B filed a complaint, stating that she felt intense humiliation over the depictions of them as lovers. Official A was subsequently sent to trial in April—one month after the initial SBS report—on charges including violations of the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment of Sexual Crimes.

Initially, the police concluded that while defamation was established, it did not amount to a sex crime. However, the prosecution indicted him, stating that everyone has the freedom not to be sexualized against their will. Yesterday (September 11), the first-instance court delivered a full "guilty" verdict.

Official A argued that he merely had feelings of affection for victim B and that the acts had nothing to do with sexual desire. The court rejected the argument, stating that whether something induces sexual humiliation is not determined by the degree of exposure, such as nudity or underwear.

The court also noted that the nature of the crime was grave and expressed doubt as to whether the defendant was genuinely remorseful, but decided to sentence him to a fine of 6 million won in consideration of factors such as it being his first offense.

[Victim B / 'AI Composite' Victim : I am relieved that the court listened to the victim's voice. However, I am somewhat disappointed with the sentence, and I wonder if it will play a sufficient role in preventing similar crimes....]

(Video Editing: Park Choon-bae, Design: Jang Sung-bum)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.