A Seoul court has sentenced Cho Ju-bin, the mastermind of one of the country's largest sexual exploitation rings, to 40 years in prison.
  
The Seoul Central District Court on Thursday handed down the sentence on charges of violating laws to protect minors from sexual abuse and operating a criminal ring by producing and selling digital materials from sexual exploitation.

The court also ordered the disclosure of Cho's personal information for ten years, restriction on his employment for ten years, the wearing of an electronic tracker for 30 years and the forfeiture of 100 million won.

The court chastised Cho for luring and threatening victims to produce sexually exploitative contents and widely distributing them over a long period, and going further to reveal the victims' personal information.

The court added that considering the gravity of Cho's crimes, his meticulous planning and poor attitude, he should be incarcerated for a long time.

Cho was indicted on 14 counts for organizing a criminal ring from May 2019 to February 2020 and blackmailing 74 women, including 16 minors, into filming sexually abusive content and selling them to the members of his Telegram chatroom "Baksabang."

Cho's accomplices, including a former Geoje city employee surnamed Cheon and a former public service worker on his mandatory military duty surnamed Kang were sentenced to 15 and 13 years, respectively.

Two paid members of "Baksabang," surnamed Im and Jang, were sentenced to eight and seven years, respectively.