American YouTuber Johnny Somali appears for his sentencing hearing at Seoul Western District Court in Mapo District, Seoul, April 22. Yonhap
A Seoul appeals court upheld a six-month prison sentence Thursday for American YouTuber Johnny Somali, rejecting appeals by both prosecutors and the defendant in a case involving disruptive public acts and sexually explicit deepfakes.
The Seoul Western District Court's Criminal Appeals Division 1 maintained the lower court's sentence of six months in prison and 20 days of detention for the streamer, whose legal name is Ramsey Khalid Ismael. However, the court set aside an earlier order to confiscate a mobile phone used in the crimes, stating the confiscation lacked legal grounds.
Somali faced charges including interfering with business operations and distributing sexually explicit deepfakes under the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment of Sexual Crimes.
The content creator drew widespread public anger after kissing the Statue of Peace, a memorial to victims of Japan's wartime sexual slavery.
