A months-long investigation into a suspected sexual predator has yielded a large volume of computer files and videos of hundreds of victims aged 10 to 70, Tainan police said yesterday.
Before his arrest in August, the 41-year-old suspect, surnamed Chang (張), was working as a video editor and photographer for a commercial ad agency, police said.
Chang had since 2017 used fake names on video-chatting sites and social media apps to lure women by offering them “modeling jobs,” which turned out to be naked photo and video sessions, they said.
After receiving tip-offs, policed tracked down Chang’s IP address and monitored his online activities before conducting a raid in August and apprehending him at his residence in Taoyuan.
The investigation is ongoing, and Chang is under judicial detention as he is facing pending charges of violating personal privacy and breaches of the Child and Youth Sexual Exploitation Prevention Act (兒童及少年性剝削防制條例), along with fraud, blackmail, coercion and offenses against sexual morality (妨害風化罪), for allegedly distributing and selling sexually explicit videos online for profit.
One complaint came from woman in Tainan earlier this year, who said she was invited for a photography session with the promise of a modeling job.
During a live chat, the woman said Chang asked her to undress. Feeling that something was wrong, she reported the incident to local authorities, prompting police investigators and prosecutors to start an investigation.
Tainan police officials this past week put out a public message for other victims to come forward, saying they have only found five people who are willing to testify and present evidence against Chang.
“We ask victims to contact and help us with the investigation. We shall ensure that your name and personal information are protected, and that videos and photographs of victims will be kept out of the public eye. Your assistance is needed for justice to be served through the conviction of the offender and to help other victims,” officials said.
The case has been compared to the “Nth Room” blackmail and cybersex trafficking case in South Korea from 2018 to 2020, in which several suspects used chat sites and social media apps to record and sell sexually explicit videos online. Three main offenders were sentenced to 30 to 40 years in prison.
Investigators alleged that Chang had posed online as a woman, a female photographer or an ad agency manager. Using his knowledge at work, he would tell his prospective targets about ad agencies looking for models, offering them up to NT$3,500 per hour, asking them detailed personal information and telling them to undress when their guard was down while he recorded them.
If the woman hesitated, he would blackmail or threaten to circulate the videos to their school, family and friends, and post them on Facebook for public viewing, police said.
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