4) ‘Case of L,’ Sexual Crimes Against Children and Adolescents in the Digital Age A) Sexual Crimes Against Children and Adolescents Online - ‘L Sexual Exploitation Case’ On Aug. 29, 2022, the media reported that a crime of production and distribution of over 1,000 sexual exploitation of minors had occurred through Telegram in a similar way to the ‘nth room sexual exploitation case.’310)311) This case received national attention as it became known as the ‘L sexual exploitation case’ after the main culprit’s name. The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency’s Cyber Investigation Team established a dedicated team for the case on Aug. 31, and the Ministry of Justice once again announced its strict response policy to digital sex crimes.312) The prime suspect in the ‘L sexual exploitation case,’ was arrested in Australia on Nov. 23, and the police requested extradition of the criminal to Korea. According to the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family’s ‘2022 Trend and Analysis of Sexual Crimes against Children and Adolescents’ (Mar. 2022),313) the crime of production and distribution of materials consisting of sexual exploitation of children increased by 61.9% as compared to the previous year, among the crimes of criminals convicted of sex crimes against children and adolescents in 2020. Moreover, according to the results of the National Investigation Headquarters of the National Police Agency's crackdown on cyber sexual violence crimes from March to October, child sexual exploitation was the most common at 43.8%.314) Meanwhile, discussions on sexual harassment in the online space continue. In 2021, Article 15-2 of the ‘Act on the Protection of Children and Youth Against Sex Offenses’ was newly established, making it possible to punish grooming sexual violence online and offline.315) 310) Sexual exploitation refers to an act of inducing, forcing, or sexually exploiting a child or youth to engage in illegal and harmful sexual acts by taking advantage of their status. 311) KBS News, Appearance of another ‘devil’ ... Sexual exploitation became more vicious, Aug. 29, 2022 312) MOJ Press Release, Sep. 1, 2022. 313) The result of analyzing the crime pattern, occurrence trend, and damage status of those convicted of sex crimes against children and adolescents in 2020 by the Korea Institute of Criminology and Justice 314) Joongang Ilbo, National Investigation Headquarters, 1,694 arrests over 8 months of intensive crackdown on cyber sexual crimes… 99 arrests were made, Nov. 15, 2022. 315) Grooming sexual assault refers to sexual abuse and exploitation by the perpetrator after forming an intimate relationship with the victim. Among them, online grooming means that the process of grooming is done through 134