Suspect pretended to be salon owner, asked victim to send body photos

The photo is unrelated to the article. [Herald DB]
The photo is unrelated to the article. [Herald DB]

A person in their 30s who posed as the owner of a waxing salon and tricked a victim into sending body photos has been sentenced to prison.

According to Yonhap and legal sources Wednesday, Judge Kim Hee-jin of the Jeju District Court's Criminal Division 3 sentenced the suspect, identified only as A, to eight months in prison on charges of violating the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment of Sexual Crimes — specifically the provision on filming using cameras or similar devices. A had been indicted without detention, but the court ordered immediate detention in the courtroom.

A was indicted on charges of deceiving an 18-year-old victim on July 18, 2024, by pretending to be the female owner of a waxing salon and inducing the victim to take and send five body photos.

A posted on a secondhand trading platform with a location set to suggest operating a waxing salon in Jeju, offering free waxing in exchange for becoming a promotional model for the shop. A then told the victim that body photos were required before the waxing procedure could proceed.

When the victim made contact, A initially posed as a staff member, sending a message saying the owner would reach out separately. A then used a woman's name and photo on a social media profile to impersonate a female salon owner.

Nine other people were also found to have applied to be models in addition to the victim.

The court said A had "committed the crime in a calculated and meticulous manner, and made the investigation more difficult by deleting accounts on the secondhand trading platform and social media after the crime."

The court also said A had stored the photos in cloud storage and deleted them just before a search and seizure warrant was executed, leaving the victim to live with lasting anxiety over the possible spread of the images, and that A had not been forgiven by the victim. However, the court said it took into account that the photos did not capture the victim's face or other identifying features, that A had no prior criminal record, and that A had confessed to the crime.


jshan@heraldcorp.com