South Korean child porn site operator busted through bitcoin trail

Authorities from the United States and Korea cracked down an online large-scale child pornography site. With cryptocurrency on a steady rise along with encrypted online content, child sexual harassment continues to be a rampant crime.

On Wednesday, the crackdown was revealed by the U.S. government as they unsealed a nine-count indictment against the site operator identified as Jong Woo Son. Prosecutors say the 23-year-old South Korean national operated the Darknet market site “Welcome to Video.” The website distributed over a million videos of sexually abused children with payments made through Bitcoin. Son is currently serving 18 months in prison in his native country following his conviction.

Since the website was taken down back in March 2018, authorities have arrested 337 of the site’s members from around the globe. Users were tracked down from numerous countries including Australia, the United Kingdom, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Germany, Spain, Brazil, and America.

In North America, website users were tracked from almost two dozen states according to the United States Department of Justice. This includes Alabama, California, Florida, Maryland, New Jersey, Washington State and many more.

Welcome to Video also served as a covert video and image sharing site with its users encouraged to upload content. According to authorities, 23 minors being actively abused by the website’s users were rescued in the U.S., U.K., and Spain. The website began operating back in June 2015.

The charges were announced by Jessie Liu, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia on Wednesday.

“What we are here to discuss today, the sexual exploitation of children is one of the worst forms of human evil imaginable. Children around the world are safer because of the actions taken by U.S. and foreign law enforcement to prosecute this case and recover funds for victims.”