S.Korean man sentenced to four years for sexual abuse in metaverse

A South Korean man in his 30s was recently sentenced to four years in prison after producing and storing sexually exploitative content involving minors he lured on the metaverse.

See related article: South Korea struggles to prevent sexual harassment of minors in the metaverse

Fast facts

• The man, whose identity was not made public, had induced underage victims to film and send images and videos of their bodies from last December to March this year, according to local media reports.

• The offender met the underage victims on a South Korean metaverse platform, where he used an avatar to misrepresent his age and offered gifts to draw in the victims to have a conversation with him, which was often in an obscene manner. 

• On top of the jail sentence, the offender is obliged to attend 80 hours of treatment programs for sex criminals, and was banned from working in an entity related to teens or the disabled for seven years.

• The sentencing was based on the offender targeting minors who are incapable of self-protection, while acknowledging that the exploitative content was not distributed or made for profit.

• In June, a lawmaker for the opposing Democratic Party, Shin Hyun-young, spearheaded a proposal to sanction sexual offenses in the metaverse.

• Last month, South Korea’s science ministry announced ethical principles for the metaverse for protecting the youth.

See related article: Sexual harassment in metaverse triggers S.Korean government response