South Korea upholds life sentence for leader of sexual exploitation network
South Korea’s Supreme Court has upheld the life sentence handed to Kim Nok Wan, the leader of the country’s largest known Telegram network for sexual exploitation. The court also upheld his conviction on 25 charges, including the production and distribution of sexual exploitation materials, threatening victims with intimate images, illegal filming, rape and indecent assault.
Hundreds of victims
As The Korea Herald reports, Kim Nok Wan led the Vigilantes group from August 2020 until his arrest in January 2025. He used the alias “Pastor” and gave accomplices titles such as “senior preacher,” “preacher” and “preacher intern.”
A total of 261 people, including minors, were harmed by the group’s actions. Its members created more than 2,000 images and videos of sexual exploitation. They collected personal data on women who posted explicit photos on social media or sought paid dates, as well as men who tried to access Telegram chats containing pornography or sexually altered images of acquaintances.
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According to the outlet, members of the network threatened to reveal the identities of victims if they did not provide nude images or comply with other demands. The materials obtained were used for further exploitation, while some victims were summoned to meetings and subjected to sexual violence.
Additional restrictions
If Kim Nok Wan is released, he will be required to wear an electronic monitoring device for 30 years. The court also kept in force a 10-year ban on working at institutions for children, adolescents and people with disabilities, as well as a requirement to disclose his personal information and notify the public about it for 10 years.
The sentences of two accomplices were also left unchanged: one received an indeterminate juvenile sentence of between 18 months and two years, while the other was sentenced to two and a half years in prison. At the same time, Kim Nok Wan and two of his accomplices were acquitted of charges of organizing, joining or participating in a criminal group. The courts concluded that there was insufficient evidence of an organized association whose members were united by a common criminal purpose.
