A co-conspirator, Park Mo (29), involved in the so-called 'Seoul National University Deepfake (Nth Room)' case, where graduates of Seoul National University produced and distributed pornography using photos of female alumni, has been sentenced to 4 years and 6 months in prison in the appeal trial. This is a reduction of 6 months from the 5-year sentence imposed in the first trial.
On the 20th, the 1st-2nd Division of the Criminal Appellate Court at the Seoul Central District Court (Director General Judge Ahn Hee-gil, Jo Jung-rae, Jin Hyun-ji) overturned the first trial ruling against Park, who faced charges of violating the Special Act on the Punishment of Sexual Violence Crimes (using cameras for filming), and sentenced him to 4 years and 6 months in prison. Additionally, Park was ordered to complete 40 hours of sexual violence treatment programs and face 5 years of public notification and restriction from employment in facilities related to children, teenagers, and the disabled.
The court noted, "(Park's) crime is of a very serious nature, and his culpability is very heavy," but also stated, "Park has reached an agreement with all six victims involved in this case, including Lee Mo, who was the victim of all the crimes in this case, and the number of false composites and videos related to the victims is quite substantial from the first trial until now." The court then concluded that, considering these factors, the original sentence was somewhat heavy and unjust.
The court further commented, "Considering that the psychological shock suffered by the victims due to the crimes is very significant, and the fact that the victims are living in fear of the distribution of the photos or videos from this case, it appears that the substantial recovery from the harm caused by the virtual nature of the crimes will take a very long time, all these points were taken into account when determining the sentence."
Park was arrested and indicted for producing over 400 false videos and distributing more than 1,700 from July 2020 to last April. He is also accused of possessing 293 files, including videos of sexual intercourse recorded without consent, stored on his computer. According to the prosecution, he was found to have contacted the main perpetrator, Park Mo (41), who graduated from Seoul National University, via online messenger to produce and distribute pornography involving dozens of women. However, it is reported that co-conspirator Park is not a graduate of Seoul National University.
The first trial sentenced Park to 5 years in prison last August. The first trial court stated, "The content of the materials recorded, possessed, processed, or posted by Park is difficult for the average person to even mention, being unpleasant, vulgar, and disgusting," and noted that "considering the number of videos and the relationship with the victims, the nature of the crime is poor."
Both Park and the prosecution appealed the first trial ruling. The prosecution also sought a 10-year sentence for Park in the second trial, similar to the first trial.