387 apprehended for deepfake sex crimes this year, 80 percent teenagers

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387 apprehended for deepfake sex crimes this year, 80 percent teenagers

Published: 26 Sep. 2024, 16:57

Citizens chant slogans against deepfake sex crimes during a rally in central Seoul on Sept. 6, 2024. [YONHAP]

A total of 387 individuals have been apprehended this year for deepfake sex crimes, with 80 percent of them teenagers, police said Thursday.

From January to last Wednesday, a total of 812 police reports were filed nationwide for deepfake-related sex crimes, with 387 suspects apprehended during this period, according to the National Police Agency.

Of the total reports, 367 were filed in the past month since Aug. 28, when police launched a special crackdown on such crimes due to the increasing severity of the issue.

Of the apprehended suspects, 324, or 83.7 percent, were teenagers, including 66 under the age of 14, who are legally exempt from criminal punishment.

Suspects in their 20s numbered 50, or 12.9 percent, followed by nine in their 30s, two in their 40s and another two at 50 or over.

Among the suspects were two teenage men arrested for selling deepfake content on Telegram between November last year and July this year, along with 24 individuals booked for investigation for purchasing such content from them.

Another man in his 30s was also referred to prosecutors on charges of manipulating the face images of 24 colleagues and friends to create 128 deepfake videos, which he distributed on Telegram between December last year and July this year.

Yonhap