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Police said Monday that they had apprehended a creator of sex abuse chatrooms on Telegram that exploited over 70 women and girls.
An arrest warrant has been sought for the 24-year-old creator of the so-called Nth Telegram chatroom, who is better known by his alias “God God,” on suspicion of breaching the act on the protection of children and youth against sex offenses and other potential charges, according to the Gyeongbuk Provincial Police Agency.
“This is an ongoing investigation. We will explain in detail when an arrest warrant is issued,” the police said. The suspect has confessed to having used the alias on the secret chat app, they said.
Investigators have been after “God God” since last July, when they came across his existence during an investigation on sexually exploited content produced and sold on social media.
Police suspect chatrooms operated by “God God” to have branched out into other sex crime rings on the encrypted messenger run by 24-year-old Cho Ju-bin and 38-year-old surnamed Jeon, both of whom have been arrested.
The police have also arrested two of Cho’s accomplices-- Kang Hoon, 18, and Lee Won-ho, 19 -- as they narrow down those involved in the online sexual exploitation case that fueled public anger drawing millions of people to back petitions filed on the presidential office’s website.
Fueling public outrage, the three key suspects – “God God”, Cho and Jeon-- allegedly tricked victims, including 16 underage girls, into producing content of a sexual nature by telling them they were auditioning for a high paying job.
The suspects are believed to have used the content to blackmail and trap victims into sexual exploitation.
Tens of thousands of users allegedly paid to access images and videos of victims, who were forced to perform degrading acts, such as carving the word “slave” on their bodies.
By Kim Bo-gyung (
lisakim425@heraldcorp.com)
