Kim Nok-wan, identified as the ringleader of the Telegram sexual exploitation crime group "Vigilante Corps," was sentenced to life in prison on appeal as well.
The Seoul High Court Criminal Division 8 (Presiding Judge Kim Seong-su, Director General) on the 29th sentenced Kim Nok-wan, who was indicted on charges including organizing and operating a criminal group, producing and distributing sexual exploitation materials and illegal recordings, coercing the use of illegal recordings, and quasi-rape, to life imprisonment, the same as in the first trial. The court also ordered 10 years of disclosure and notification of personal information, a 10-year employment ban at institutions related to children, teenagers, and people with disabilities, and 30 years of electronic location tracking device attachment.
The court said, "The defendant repeatedly committed crimes over about 4 years and 5 months, and there are 25 counts that were found guilty," adding, "Even though some participants were caught by investigative authorities during the period of the crimes, the defendant ignored this and continued committing crimes by threatening new victims." It continued, "It is estimated that a significant portion of the false videos distributed online are still circulating online," and "The defendant exploited the fact of possessing the victims' sexual exploitation materials to threaten and psychologically control them."
The court noted, "It is clear that the defendant's perverse and sadistic conduct inflicted indelible shame and humiliation on the victims for life," and pointed out, "Severe punishment is necessary for these anti-human-rights crimes that completely disregarded the victims' dignity and value." It added, "Just as the defendant committed this case after watching the 'Nth Room' case, there may be people who try to imitate it to commit new crimes," and said, "Severe punishment is necessary to sound a warning to society and prevent copycat crimes."
The court also sentenced a person surnamed Kang, the so-called "senior evangelist" who recruited and trained Vigilante Corps members and directed the crimes, to 4 years in prison and a 5-year employment ban, the same as in the first trial. Among nine people who acted as "evangelists" or "assistant evangelists" and took part in finding victims, operating Telegram channels, producing and distributing sexual exploitation materials, and threatening victims, four were sentenced to prison and five received suspended prison terms.
The court maintained the first-trial judgment that found Kim Nok-wan not guilty of joining a criminal group. Although there are suspicions that a criminal group was organized and used with the aim of committing crimes over an extended period, it is difficult to recognize that the remaining participants, excluding Kim, had the shared purpose of jointly carrying out crimes.
Around May 2020, Kim Nok-wan created the Vigilante Corps, a pyramid-style sexual violence crime group, on Telegram and was indicted and detained on charges including producing and distributing sexual exploitation materials against 234 victims through January this year, or committing sex crimes through threats and psychological control. Among the victims, 159 were teenagers, it was found.
Kim Nok-wan had victims call Kim "pastor," leading to the group also being called the "pastor's room." It was found that Kim assigned positions such as "evangelist" and "assistant evangelist" to members and created a system in which evangelists connected Kim with assistant evangelists.
Earlier, in Nov. last year, the first trial sentenced Kim Nok-wan to life in prison and ordered 10 years of disclosure and notification of personal information, a 10-year employment ban at institutions related to children, teenagers, and people with disabilities, and 30 years of electronic location tracking device attachment. The first trial found not guilty on some counts of organizing and operating a criminal group, some violations of the Act on the Protection of Children and Youth against Sex Offenses, and some violations of the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment of Sexual Crimes.