A man in his 30s accused of threatening women and raping them while playing "two roles" on KakaoTalk has been caught by police and handed over to prosecutors.
According to police on the 31st, the Seocho Police Station in Seoul sent a man in his 30s, a person surnamed Park, to prosecutors without detention on the 17th on charges of threatening and raping dozens of women for more than three years starting around 2022. One of the victims is said to be a minor.
The victims commonly met Park on a secondhand trading platform. After giving Park their contact information, Park kept insisting on an in-person transaction and demanding a meeting, which made them uncomfortable, so they cut off contact. A few days after cutting contact, the victims received a KakaoTalk message from a person identified as A, who claimed to be Park's ex-girlfriend, saying, "Park sexually harassed you." The person also said Park had raped her and proposed that they take "revenge" together.
Angered, the victims followed A's instructions to "threaten Park" and obtained a video of Park, nude, admitting to the sexual harassment and apologizing.
But hours later, Park contacted the victims and said, "I will report to police that I was the victim of illegal filming and blackmail," and, "Let's meet first and try to resolve this." The victims, feeling fear and guilt, were lured by Park into a motel and raped.
After accepting a complaint from one victim last year and opening an investigation, police concluded that Park had played two roles by posing as a former partner to contact the victims and induce blackmail. A is also said not to be a real person.
Police found indications that Park contacted more than 100 women using the same method and traveled nationwide to carry out the crimes, but only about 20 to 30 are said to have given statements to police about the damage.
Park faces more than 10 charges, including violating the Act on the Protection of Children and Juveniles from Sexual Abuse (production of sexual exploitation materials and rape, etc.), violating the Child Welfare Act (coercion into obscene acts, prostitution, sexual harassment), rape, and intimidation.
At the end of August, police sought an arrest warrant for A, but prosecutors reportedly returned it, saying "supplementary investigation is needed." Police plan to seek the arrest warrant again.