South Korean High School Student Sentenced to 3 Years for Deepfake Sexual Abuse Material of Teachers
A 19-year-old South Korean high school student was sentenced to 3 years in prison by an appellate court for creating and distributing deepfake sexual abuse material depicting his teachers on social media. The student had previously received a lighter sentence under juvenile law, but received the harsher sentence after turning 18 and being prosecuted as an adult.
What happened
A 19-year-old high school student used deepfake technology to synthesize the faces of two female high school teachers and an academy instructor onto nude photographs, then distributed the fabricated images on social media platforms in July 2024.
The student also photographed the teachers' bodies at school using a mobile phone to highlight specific body parts. The student stated during investigation that he created the material because he found the teachers attractive.
Reported impact
The court found that the synthetic images and inflammatory text caused severe psychological trauma to the teachers and were difficult to fully remediate due to the high transmission potential of social media platforms.
The court characterized the conduct as 'character assassination' due to the serious nature of the sexual exploitation material directed at authority figures.
Index analysis
The student was initially sentenced to an indeterminate term (short term 1 year, long term 1 year 6 months) under juvenile law in a first instance decision in August 2024, when he was under 19 years old.
Upon appeal in December 2025, the appellate court imposed a fixed 3-year prison sentence after the student reached adulthood and became subject to adult criminal law, resulting in a higher sentence.
Governance controls
The Incheon Office of Education held a teacher protection committee hearing and determined that a grave violation of educational activities had occurred, imposing expulsion from the school.
The court ordered the defendant to complete 40 hours of sexual violence treatment programming and prohibited employment at child and disability-related institutions for 5 years following release.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.