(Image: Kobiz Media)
SEOUL, April 16 (Korea Bizwire) — Digital sex crimes, including videotaping sexual abuse of juveniles and teenagers, have jumped in number, South Korea’s gender ministry said Thursday.
The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family released a report that studied court rulings on 2,753 criminals who committed sex crimes on children and teenagers in 2019.
Among them, 266 were engaged in illegal videotaping of sexual abuse of children and teenagers, up by 19.3 percent from the previous year (223 people).
A total of 505 children and teenagers fell victim to illegal videotaping, up by 101.2 percent from the previous year (251 people).
The number of victims easily outstrips the number of perpetrators, which is one of the unique characteristics of a digital sex crime, the report said.
The average age of sex criminals was 35.3 years old, 98.1 percent of whom were men.
Sorted by age, 28.7 percent of the sex criminals were between the ages of 19 and 29, while 17.8 percent were in their 30s and 40s.
Another 15.6 percent were under 19 years old, growing in proportion from 11.8 percent in 2014.
Among victims, 92.4 percent were female, with an average age of 14.2, and 41.9 percent were between 16 and 18 years of age.
Victims under 13 years old comprised 26.1 percent of the total.
Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
