Middle school boy accused of making and distributing deepfake videos of middle school girls hospitalized after retaliatory assault by a victim’s acquaintance

[Financial News]  Police are investigating two incidents involving a male student at a middle school in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, who is accused of secretly filming female students and then making and distributing deepfake videos, and was assaulted in retaliation by a peer.
According to Yonhap News Agency, News 1 and other outlets on the 22nd, the Cheongju Cheongwon Police Station said it was conducting a preliminary inquiry (internal investigation) into A, a teenage boy, on suspicion of violating the Sexual Violence Punishment Act (production and distribution of fabricated videos).
A, who attends a middle school in Cheongju, is suspected of making and distributing deepfake videos using photos of female classmates on the 16th.
A was discovered by B, a female student who was victimized, and B told her parents about it.
B’s parents reported the matter to police that day, and the school is also said to have learned of it through their report.
Police, who launched an investigation after receiving the report, are said to have found indications that A made and distributed deepfake videos using photos he had captured while video-calling multiple female students, among other images.  
A is reportedly receiving inpatient treatment at a hospital after being assaulted in retaliation by two acquaintances of the victimized female student who were her peers, on a hiking trail near the school on the 19th, after the incident became known.
Police have booked without detention and are investigating the perpetrators who assaulted B on assault charges.
A police official said, "As the investigation is ongoing, it is difficult to confirm the exact facts of the case."
[email protected] Kim Su-yeon Reporter