New data from South Korea’s National Police Agency shows that nearly all suspects arrested for deepfake sex crimes the past year were male.
According to figures obtained by Yong Hye In, 378 out of 387 people arrested for deepfake-related sexual crimes between January and September 25 were men, accounting for 97.6% of all suspects. Only nine suspects were women.The data also highlights that most suspects were teenagers. Individuals in their teens made up 324 of those arrested, or 83.7%. Suspects in their 20s followed with 50 cases, while those in their 30s accounted for nine. Only four suspects were aged 40 or older.
Notably, 66 of those apprehended were under the age of 14. Under Korean law, minors below this age are classified as juveniles not subject to criminal punishment.
This marks the first time police have publicly released gender-based statistics related to deepfake sex crimes. The data was manually compiled after repeated requests from lawmaker Yong’s office, as existing police systems did not track suspect gender for these crimes.
The National Police Agency stated that the statistics were collected as part of a special crackdown on fake and manipulated sexual content, launched on August 28, amid growing public concern over deepfake abuse.
