Gyeonggi man faces charges over illegal fetish website
Police accuse the man of running a site catering to people who enjoy watching their spouses or partners having sex with other people, saying the site even encouraged users to arrange in-person encounters.
The Korean national flag and the Korean National Police Agency flag are seen in front of the agency’s headquarters in Seodaemun District, western Seoul.
NEWS1
A man has been detained and referred to prosecutors for allegedly operating an illegal website for people with sexual fetishes and distributing illicit sexual content, the Gyeongnam Provincial Police Agency said Monday.
The suspect is accused of distributing more than 2,000 obscene videos, including illegally filmed footage, through the website he operated from April 2021 through June this year. His charges include violations of internet communications and sex crime laws.
He allegedly claimed that his website was an offshoot of Soranet, once Korea's largest website for sexually exploitative content before its forced closure in 2016. He recruited people with sexual fetishes involving their spouses or partners having sex with other people, police say.
Police found that the site had more than 1,000 paid members and also featured posts encouraging users to arrange in-person encounters centered on their sexual fetishes.
Investigators believe the man operated the site using a server based in the United States and changed its domain address every year to evade government blocks on access to pornographic websites.
Following instructions from the Korean National Police Agency in July, the provincial police identified the suspect last month and arrested him this month at a residence in Bucheon, Gyeonggi.
During questioning, the suspect reportedly told police that he operated the website to share his sexual interests with others rather than to make money.
Police have shut down the website and are investigating more than 100 members suspected of uploading illegally filmed footage and other illicit content.
BY KIM EUN-BIN [[email protected]]
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
