‘VIRTUAL ENSLAVEMENT’

South Korea Sex Ring Mastermind Who Blackmailed Dozens of Women Gets 40 Years in Prison

The 24-year-old blackmailed at least 74 women and girls into sharing sexual videos that he then posted in pay-to-view chatrooms.

The leader of a massive South Korean sexual abuse ring who coerced dozens of women and girls into sending degrading images of themselves, which he then sold for profit, has been sentenced to 40 years in prison. On Thursday, Cho Ju-bin was found guilty of targeting 74 women, including 16 minors, and forcing them into what a Seoul court described as “virtual enslavement.” Between May 2019 and February this year, the 24-year-old blackmailed the women and girls into sharing sexual videos that were then posted in pay-to-view chatrooms. When he was arrested, Cho thanked police for “putting a brake on the life of a devil that could not be stopped.” The case sparked national fury in South Korea—in March, five million people signed petitions asking for his anonymity to be lifted.