A still from the live broadcast at the time of Shin Tae-il's arrest. [YouTube capture]
A still from the live broadcast at the time of Shin Tae-il's arrest. [YouTube capture]

Internet broadcaster Shin Tae-il (32, real name Lee Kun-hee), indicted on charges of producing and livestreaming sexual exploitation material involving a minor, was sentenced to prison in his first trial.

The 12th Criminal Division of the Incheon District Court sentenced Shin on Thursday to six years in prison for violating the Act on the Protection of Children and Youth from Sexual Abuse, including the production of sexual exploitation material.

Of the seven co-defendant broadcasters who appeared on the stream with Shin and were indicted without detention, the court sentenced five to between two years and six months and three years and six months in prison and ordered all five taken into custody in the courtroom. The remaining two co-defendants each received a suspended sentence of two years and six months with a four-year probationary period.

"This case involved the defendants producing sexual exploitation material featuring children and youth and screening that footage for profit," the court said. "It not only violated the sexual self-determination rights of the children and youth involved but also distorted viewers' perceptions of sex, causing serious harm to society as a whole."

The court added that "the offense is of an extremely grave nature, given that the sexuality of children and youth was exploited as a means of profit, that a YouTube broadcast with wide reach was used, that the videos contained explicit depictions of sexual acts, and the ages of the child victims."

The court said that "in light of the legislative intent and purpose of the Youth Sex Protection Act — which aims to help children and youth grow into healthy members of society — there is a need to punish the defendants severely." It added that "many ordinary citizens pointed out that the majority of the broadcast's viewers were teenagers and expressed concern about the impact of the defendants' actions on our society."

On Shin specifically, the court noted that he "played a leading role in planning the entire crime, recruiting the child victim as a participant, and directing the broadcast as its host." It also noted that "he committed the offense during a suspended sentence without showing any restraint and has a prior record of being punished multiple times for unrelated crimes."

However, the court said it considered that Shin "has acknowledged the factual circumstances and shown a remorseful attitude, aside from legal disputes," and that "the child victims do not wish for his punishment and he reached a settlement after paying a substantial sum to the victims' side."

Shin was indicted in detention after allegedly producing sexual exploitation material involving a minor, identified as B, at an officetel in Cheongna-dong, Seo-gu, Incheon, on July 12 last year, and livestreaming it on an internet broadcasting platform. Police obtained an arrest warrant after Shin repeatedly failed to comply with summons and arrested him on Sept. 1 of the same year while he was broadcasting live from an officetel in Seo-gu.

An investigation found that Shin paid B an appearance fee of 500,000 won ($331) and then used a computer program called a "spinning wheel" to assign penalties based on viewer donations, which B was made to carry out. Those penalties included content suggestive of sexual acts. Seven other broadcasters were also found to have participated in the broadcast alongside Shin.

Police referred all seven to prosecutors without detention on the same charges and also forwarded 161 people who had watched the livestream to prosecutors on charges of violating the Youth Sex Protection Act and aiding in the production and distribution of sexual exploitation material.


yeonjoo7@heraldcorp.com