Prosecutors have sought a heavy prison term for a key operator of AVMOV, a website used to distribute illegally filmed sexual content.
At a sentencing hearing held on the 25th before the 12th Criminal Division of the Suwon District Court, presided over by Chief Judge Park Geon-chang, prosecutors asked the court to sentence the defendant, identified only as A, a person in their 40s, to seven years in prison on charges including violation of the special act on the punishment of sexual crimes.
Prosecutors also sought a provisional collection order for about 486 million won ($350,000), completion of a sexual violence treatment program, disclosure and notification of personal information, and a seven-year ban on employment at institutions related to children and adolescents.
Prosecutors said the defendant's methods and the nature of the crime were highly egregious, noting that A destroyed evidence and fled abroad once the investigation began, and continued attempting to destroy evidence while overseas. They added that they had taken into account the fact that the defendant had admitted to the charges apart from some of the alleged offenses.
In closing arguments, A's defense counsel said the defendant admitted to most of the charges but denied conspiring in the overall operation of the site, pleading for leniency.
The defense counsel argued that the defendant did not induce users to post illegal footage by giving them points, nor was involved in their uploading activity, and that in the case of child and adolescent sexual exploitation material, such content had been mixed in by mistake without being noticed during the process of uploading large volumes of videos.
In a final statement, A also said the crime had been committed for reasons including financial hardship, and asked the court for leniency, citing having turned themselves in and supporting a family.
A is accused of uploading illegal footage to AVMOV, a site for sharing illegally filmed content that was launched in August 2022, and of conspiring with an unidentified top administrator and others to operate the illegal site. A is also accused of managing the site, including by posting illegal footage more than 1,600 times and announcing that users would be given points for uploading videos.
Can Merely Watching AVMOV Lead to Punishment?
Users of the site, which launched in August 2022, were found to have shared videos secretly filmed of acquaintances or partners, or to have downloaded illegal footage using points bought with paid subscriptions. The number of registered members reached some 540,000. The site is currently blocked from access.
Last December, the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency detected the AVMOV site during its own monitoring and launched a preliminary investigation. When news of the police investigation spread, a flood of self-reporting statements were filed, saying the writers had watched videos on AVMOV.
Illegal footage posted online can be subject to criminal punishment through the mere act of watching it. "Intent" is cited as the main standard for determining culpability. If a person watches such content while aware that it is unlawful footage — such as illegally filmed material targeting adults or child and adolescent sexual exploitation material — that person can be booked on criminal charges.
