A club owner in Gangnam, Seoul안전놀이터, who arranged for people to meet online and engage in group sex acts, has been sentenced to a suspended prison term in a first trial.
According to legal sources, Kim Chang-mo, a deputy chief judge at the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 14, sentenced club owner A, 48, to one year in prison, suspended for two years, and ordered him to pay 115 million won ($115,000). His co-operators and employees were each sentenced to six months in prison and two years’ probation.
From January to June last year, Ahn was indicted for operating a so-called “viewing club” that allowed visitors to arrange or observe obscene acts in a club that was declared as a general restaurant (violation of the Food Hygiene Act and the Business Regulation Act).
After booking visitors through social media (SNS) such as Twitter, he collected an admission fee of 100,000 to 150,000 won per person. He provided visitors with contraceptives and sexual devices and arranged a separate room for sexual intercourse. Song accompaniment devices were also installed so that people could dance and sing freely.
Under current law, restaurant operators are not allowed to have sound systems and allow customers to dance, and even if they have a licence, they are prohibited from soliciting indecent acts.
“The defendants committed the offence for a long period of time and earned considerable profits,” the court said in its sentencing reasons, adding that it took into account that “the defendants confessed to the offence and did not have the power to exceed the fine.”
A and others were arrested in June last year in a police crackdown that left 26 patrons at the club unpunished. Investigators determined that there was no legal basis to punish them as they had voluntarily engaged in group sexual behaviour.