Of the 4,000 people arrested by police for producing and distributing child sexual exploitation.

Of the 4,000 people arrested by police over the past three years and seven months for producing and distributing child sexual exploitation, only 260 have been arrested.

In the United States, there is a need for tougher penalties to eradicate the same crime. After all, simple possession of child pornography or viewing child pornography for sexual purposes can lead to a prison sentence of up to 10 years.

According to data received by Hwang Jung-ah of the Democratic Party of Korea from the National Police Agency on July 17, the police have arrested a total of 4,763 cases for violations of Article 11 of the Law for the Protection of Juveniles from Sexual Exploitation, which prohibits the production and distribution of sexual exploitation of children and adolescents from 2021 to July this year.

There were 1,747 cases in 2021, 1,052 cases in 2022 and last year, and 912 cases between January and July this year.

The number of arrests was 1,331 in 2021, 986 in 2022, 978 last year and 762 between January and July this year.

Of the total of 4,057 people arrested for three years and seven months, only 261, or 6.4%, were sent to the Public Prosecution Service in pre-trial detention.

It has been found that there is no separate count of the status of each type of crime, such as receiving damage reports and simple possession and viewing.

It is noted that the revised Youth Protection Act following the “Nth Room Incident” in 2020 has tightened penalties for those who purchase sexual exploitation of children and adolescents or have them in their possession or surveillance for more than one year.

Representative Hwang pointed out that “even after the umpteenth room incident, investigative agencies still take the scale of child sexual exploitation lightly,” adding: “We must come up with appropriate measures.”

Meanwhile, in the United States, even first-time offenders can be sentenced to 15 to 30 years in prison if they are guilty of sexual exploitation of children and adolescents.

In case of recidivism, the penalty can increase to 50 years and a convicted person can receive a life sentence.

Furthermore, sexual exploitation of children and attempts at such exploitation are severely punished.