Koreans Grow Furious About The Judge Assigned To The New 16-Year-Old Operator’s “Nth Room Sex Abuse” Case

Following the arrest of the “Nth Room Sex Abuse” case’s main perpetrator Cho Joo Bin, who operated a child pornography group chat on the app Telegram under the nickname Baksa, more “operators” of similar chatrooms have been tracked down as well. One in particular, by the nickname of Taepyungyang (Pacific), has been revealed to be 16 years old. The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency‘s cyber safety department reported they located Taepyungyang on February 20, 2020 then arrested him on March 5, 2020 for sharing sexual content involving children and teenagers.

Usually, when the perpetrator is a minor, the case is tried under juvenile law. Taepyungyang‘s case, however, has been decided to be tried as a criminal case — considering the fact that this is a sexual offense and that the victims are minors. Unfortunately, when the press revealed that Judge Oh Duk Shik has been assigned to the case, Koreans couldn’t hide the disappointment.

Judge Oh Duk Shik is the one who faced intense criticism from Korean netizens for his previous involvement in the late Goo Hara‘s legal battle against her ex-boyfriend Choi Jong Bum. He is said to have demanded to see Goo Hara’s sex video in privacy of the court because he claimed “the contents of the video is important.”

While countless women’s rights organizations have voiced their request to have Judge Oh Duk Shik removed from his position…

… he has continued to “rule in favor of the male perpetrators”.

On November 21, 2019, Judge Oh Duk Shik tried a wedding photographer who installed hidden cameras on the wedding hall floors to obtain illegal pictures of guests for three years. He stated ‘In consideration of the perpetrator’s age, social status, and clean criminal history, it is unlikely that he will attempt such acts again,’ and sentenced the photographer to probation.

— Pressian

Korean netizens remain appalled at the fact that “someone who is so well known for his leniency on sex-related criminal cases” has been assigned the Taepyungyang case — and share little hope for justice.