S Korea’s most prolific online sex criminal sentenced to life in prison

The leader of a Telegram sex crime ring which facilitated the exchange of thousands of sexual abuse materials has been sentenced to life imprisonment in South Korea.

Kim Nok-wan, 33, was the head of the so-called Vigilantes: a large-scale, pyramid-style group that blackmailed victims into producing explicit content and sharing it in online chatrooms.

Between May 2020 and January 2025, the Vigilantes exploited at least 261 individuals – the largest number of cybersex exploitation victims in South Korea’s history.

Under the self-designated title of “pastor”, Kim was found to have carried out systematic crimes including the sexual assault of minors and the distribution of images that show child sex abuse.

Kim sought out both male and female targets through social networking platforms, luring them to the instant-messaging service Telegram before blackmailing them, according to police.

Read more: BBC