KOR
▲ Seoul Dongdaemun Police Station
An active-duty police officer who created and shared sexually exploitative content using artificial intelligence (AI) in a Telegram chat room has been arrested and detained.
He was caught by investigators who infiltrated the Telegram chat room to investigate distributors of sexually exploitative materials.
The Seoul Dongdaemun Police Station announced today (October 4) that Police Inspector A, assigned to the traffic division, was arrested and detained last month on charges of possessing, producing, and sharing sexually explicit materials and deepfake videos.
In December of last year, the Busan Metropolitan Police Agency obtained a court permit for undercover investigation to probe Telegram chat rooms where deepfake videos were being distributed.
Undercover investigations were introduced following the revision of the Act on the Protection of Children and Youths against Sex Crimes in September 2021 in the wake of the "Nth Room" and "Doctor's Room" cases. Since June of last year, they have also become applicable to digital sex crimes targeting adults based on the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment, etc. of Sexual Crimes.
Investigators, who infiltrated the chat room with concealed identities to track the crimes, identified the distributor of illegal videos after months of tracking.
However, upon verifying his identity, it was discovered that he was an active-duty police officer working in the traffic division of the Seoul Dongdaemun Police Station.
The Busan Metropolitan Police Agency executed a search and seizure warrant against Inspector A in August, securing his mobile phone and computer.
In the process of analyzing the seized items, more than 5,600 videos were reportedly found, including 2,600 deepfake videos, 1,600 child and youth sexual exploitation materials, and 1,300 illegally filmed videos possessed by Inspector A.
Inspector A is suspected not only of collecting illegal videos but also of directly producing and distributing them.
It has been reported that from March 2022 to July of this year, spanning over four years, he used an AI app to create about 400 deepfake videos depicting acquaintances in the nude, and also produced illegally filmed content capturing women's bodies without their consent.
He was also found to have distributed dozens of such deepfake videos in Telegram chat rooms from August of last year to April of this year.
Inspector A joined the police force in December 2023, meaning he continued his crimes for nearly three years even after donning the police uniform.
As the police investigation gained momentum, Inspector A reportedly confessed to his crimes.
The Seoul Dongdaemun Police Station stated, "Following the notification of the investigation into Inspector A in August, he was placed on standby, and subsequently suspended from his duties upon his detention."
(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.
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