Thursday, 01 October 2009 08:08
Police last year nabbed 2.5 times more people for secretly taking pictures of others or filming them with hidden cameras than five years ago. The figure comes from data submitted by the National Police Agency to Grand National Party lawmaker Ahn Hong-joon of the National Assembly's Health, Welfare and Family Affairs Committee on Monday.
The total number of such offenses was 2,225 over the last five years, but the annual figure grew from 231 in 2004 to 576 in 2008.
The most common scenes of the crime were subway stations with 326 cases or 14.7 percent, followed by motels and public bath houses (12.3 percent or 274), streets (10.0 percent or 223), detached houses (9.1 percent or 203), and apartments and townhouses (8 percent or 177). Hidden camera crime also took place in shops (4.6 percent), station waiting rooms (3.4 percent), schools (1.3 percent), offices (0.7 percent), and medical facilities (0.7 percent).
The biggest group of suspects arrested for the offense were in their 20s, accounting for 887 or 42.5 percent of all 2,088 arrests, followed by those in their 30s (614 or 29.4 percent), 40s (266 or 12.7 percent), and teens (203 or 9.7 percent).
Arrests of youngsters between 14 and 19 soared from a mere 12 in 2004 to 203 in 2008. Elderly Peeping Toms over 60 also proliferated from just one to 15.
