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'Baksa Room' Cho Ju-bin gets 5 more years in prison for sexual assault of minor

Published: 12 Jun. 2025, 18:51 Updated: 13 Jun. 2025, 01:26

Cho Ju-bin, the ringleader of the "Baksa Room" chatroom on Telegram who distributed sexually exploitative content involving minors, on March 25, 2020 [YONHAP]

Cho Ju-bin, the ringleader of the “Baksa Room” chat room on Telegram, who is already serving 42 years after being convicted of distributing sexually exploitative content involving minors, was sentenced to additional prison time after the Seoul High Court upheld a separate rape conviction.

The Seoul High Court rejected Cho's appeal, confirming a five-year sentence handed down by a lower court that found he had sexually exploited and raped an underage girl in 2019, violating the Act on the Protection of Children and Youth Against Sex Offenses, among other charges.

Cho had argued that the sexual act was "consensual" and that he had been in a "romantic relationship" with the accuser at the time.

The court rejected this claim, stating that his accuser had "consistently testified that she was not in a relationship with the defendant and complied only under his pressure.” The court added that video footage showed Cho's accuser "reluctantly obeying the defendant’s commands.”

The court dismissed additional claims that prosecutors had abused their discretion in indicting Cho and that the lower court's sentence was excessive.

In October 2021, Cho was sentenced to 42 years in prison for leading a digital sex crime ring from May 2019 to February 2020. He was found guilty of coercing dozens of women — including minors — into producing sexually exploitative videos, which he then sold and distributed via the Telegram chat room.

In February of last year, Cho and an accomplice, Kang Hoon, were sentenced to four months in prison for a separate count of sexual assault.

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.
BY KIM JI-HYE [[email protected]]