Kim Nok-wan, 33, who was sentenced to life in prison in the first trial on charges of operating the largest-ever Telegram sexual exploitation chat room, appealed the ruling.
According to legal sources on the 27th, Kim filed a notice of appeal that day with the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 26 (Presiding Judge Lee Hyun-kyung).
Earlier, on the 24th, the first trial court sentenced Kim, indicted on charges including organizing a criminal group, to life in prison and ordered 10 years of information disclosure and notification, a 10-year ban on employment at institutions related to children, teenagers, and people with disabilities, and the attachment of an electronic location-tracking device for 30 years.
The first trial court said of Kim, "Over about four years and five months, the crimes were repeated, and by threatening to distribute nude photos unless victims recruited new victims, a large number of victims were produced."
It also said, "Kim sent a sex video to a victim's father through an accomplice and even went to the workplace to make repeated threats, showing methods that were extremely brutal and malicious," adding, "Even taking into account that this was a first offense and agreements were reached with three victims, a life sentence to permanently isolate from society is unavoidable."
Kim was accused of running a Telegram-based sexual crime ring called "Vigilante" and committing various sexual exploitations. From May 2020 to January this year, sexual exploitation materials were produced regardless of gender, and the number of victims alone was confirmed to reach 261. This is more than three times the number of victims, 73, in the "Doctor's Room" case run by Cho Joo-bin in the past. It is the largest victim count among domestic cyber sexual exploitation cases.
Kim also reportedly coerced victims into acting as perpetrators of other crimes. Women who posted sexual content on social media (SNS) or men attempting sexual crimes such as so-called "acquaintance humiliation" were the main targets of threats. The court explained that Kim not only sexually exploited them but also threatened them to recruit new victims, producing a large number of victims.
In the process, Kim called himself a "pastor" and assigned titles such as "evangelist" to members, allegedly carrying out crimes in an organized manner. It is said he became enamored with such titles after watching the Netflix drama Narco-Saints.
Kim also committed rape against 16 victims. Of these, 14 were children or teenagers. The process of the crimes was also recorded. In addition, targeting about 70 victims, he produced about 1,700 child and youth sexual exploitation materials, and when a victim refused recruitment, he distributed about 260 child and youth sexual exploitation materials by posting them on social media.