A college student was arrested on charges of spreading digitally manipulated pornographic photos of former schoolmates and libel, police said Thursday.

According to Seongnam Sujeong Police, the suspect allegedly used photo-editing software to put the faces of some 17 female peers from middle and high school onto indecent images and shared them on social media between November and July. He reportedly used photos that had been posted on the victims’ Instagram and Facebook accounts.

The suspect is also accused of adding the victims’ personal information, including their names, schools and home addresses, as well as false statements concerning the victims’ promiscuity. 

Police said they had first received complaints from victims in December. But, since the suspect did not upload the photos to his personal social media, police reportedly experienced difficulties tracking him down until recently.

Traumatized victims are said to have changed their names or quit their jobs due to malicious rumors spread across their schools or places of work. Some also alleged that strangers had called them insisting on meeting face-to-face, police said.

Another man is accused of running a Tumblr blog compiling pornographic images sent from anonymous accounts. Police said the two men have no connection with each other, but discovered the Tumblr blog had been used in spreading the doctored images.

The suspect claimed to have committed the act after realizing he “enjoyed the attention with the (porn) images,” according to police.

During the course of investigation, investigators said they booked two high school students without physical attention for uploading and spreading the fake pictures received from the suspect via social media.

By Kim Jee-min (jeeminkim@heraldcorp.com)