Police have launched an investigation after allegations surfaced that a coach of a middle school sports team in North Chungcheong illegally filmed and distributed a student's nude images.
On the 25th, the North Chungcheong Provincial Police Agency said it is investigating after receiving a request from a certain middle school to look into a coach in his 30s, identified as A.
A is suspected of filming on a mobile phone the nude body of B, a student with an intellectual disability whom A coaches, at A's home in November–December last year and sharing it in a social media (SNS) group chat used by sports team students.
B had been living in a group-lodging arrangement at A's home. A reportedly shared photos and videos of B taken by A on multiple occasions and exchanged conversations laced with ridicule with the students.
The case came to light on the 9th of this month after a parent of another student in the chat room checked the related video and notified the school.
However, after becoming aware of the facts the next day, the school only notified B's parents and took no steps such as reporting to a higher authority or notifying an investigative agency. Under the current Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment, etc. of Child Abuse Crimes, school faculty and other workers at child-related facilities are obligated to immediately report to investigative agencies if they recognize signs of child abuse.
The school notified the school police officer in charge (SPO) only after North Chungcheong Provincial Council member Park Jin-hee disclosed the allegations on SNS on the 22nd, and the next day the school formally requested a police investigation, it turned out.
A resigned from the school after the allegations surfaced.
The North Chungcheong Provincial Police Agency, which received the case from a local police station the previous day, plans to soon question A and others to confirm the exact circumstances.