"Homeroom Teacher, Send Me a Photo": Teen Who Created Nude Deepfakes Is Detained in Court; Victimized Teacher Says, "I Began Suspecting My Students"

[Financial News] A teenage boy who used artificial intelligence (AI) deepfake technology to create sexual exploitation materials involving teachers and distribute them on social media has been detained in court.
According to legal sources on the 16th, Lee Chang-kyung, a judge at Incheon District Court, sentenced Defendant A at a sentencing hearing that day to an indeterminate prison term of up to two years, with a minimum term of one year and six months, and detained him in court. He was indicted on charges including editing false videos under the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment of Sexual Crimes.
Under the Juvenile Act, minors under the age of 19 who commit crimes may receive an indeterminate sentence that sets upper and lower limits on the term of imprisonment.
Judge Lee stated, "The composite photos and videos of the five teachers distributed by Defendant A clearly showed the victims' faces, and listed their real names, ages, schools and subjects." He added, "Some also included their mobile phone numbers or Instagram usernames."
The judge continued, "The crime sexually demeaned teachers who educate students by reducing them to tools for satisfying distorted desires. It is highly reprehensible and likely to draw strong social condemnation." He also noted, "The teachers victimized by their students have undergone psychological treatment for extended periods or are suffering considerable trauma."
He further criticized the defendant, saying, "In an attempt to join a Telegram chatroom themed around the sexual humiliation of acquaintances, Defendant A created dozens of composite photos of six people, including a female middle school student who attended the same taekwondo academy, and provided some of them to the operator. The crime was seriously reprehensible and warranted considerable condemnation."
Judge Lee explained the reasons for the sentence, stating, "It appears that he committed the offenses under the influence of distorted impulses and curiosity while emotionally immature." He added, "We took into consideration that he admitted the charges and had no prior criminal record."
Defendant A was indicted on charges including using AI deepfake technology in August 2024, when he was a middle school student, to superimpose the faces of five teachers onto nude photographs and distribute them on social media. He was also found to have carefully planned the offenses, including inducing a teacher who had been his homeroom teacher to send a photo by claiming that the photo and contact information had been formatted, then using the image for a deepfake.
Defendant A withdrew from school before the school rights protection committee convened and therefore received no significant disciplinary action.
Investigators found that Defendant A created deepfake content involving 11 people, including five teachers, on 35 occasions, counting the additional case brought against him during the trial.
One victimized teacher testified in court, saying, "I loved children more than anyone, but I began suspecting my students." She added, "Even after receiving counseling for months, my heart still sinks at the slightest camera-shutter sound or whenever I hear the word 'deepfake.'"
[email protected] Ahn Ga-eul Reporter