South Korean Telegram Sex-Crime Ring Leader Kim Nok-wan Sentenced to Life

The Seoul Central District Court handed Kim Nok-wan a life sentence for running the Telegram-based exploitation network known as the Vigilante Corps. The court ordered 10 years of public disclosure of Kim’s information, a 10-year ban on employment involving children and adolescents, and 30 years of electronic location tracking. Reports differ on the victim count, with Yonhap and the Associated Press citing 261 victims and JoongAng reporting 234 based on prosecutors’ and police tallies. The court said the methods used against very young victims were extremely cruel and noted rapes or assaults of at least 16 victims, including 14 minors. Officials and coverage describe the case as larger than prior Telegram crimes, exceeding the scale of Cho Joo-bin’s Baksa Room case by more than threefold.