A man who raped and extorted money out of the women he dated was handed down a sentence of 17 years in prison Wednesday.

Daejeon High Court said “our society cannot take the atrocious nature of the convict’s crimes more gravely.” 

The court found the 36-year-old guilty of abusing and extorting money and valuables worth 76 million won ($66,000) from four women he concurrently dated between June 2012 and June 2015.

One victim, who dated the convict up to February 2014 and was accused of aiding him in his crimes by providing a vehicle, took her own life during the police investigation.

Under the probe, the deceased had testified the convict was “frightening and atrocious” and had “deliberately approached her to extract money out of her until she had not a penny left to give him.”

At the time of her death she had been paying off debts incurred from a loan she took out for the convict.

Another victim, who dated the man between August 2014 and July 2015, was met with a violent response when she asked to end their relationship.

The convict threatened to release “revenge porn” and extorted 10 million won from her. He locked up and raped the victim, force-fed her hallucinatory drugs and threatened to sell her into prostitution.

The victim managed to escape eventually, whereupon the man then attempted to extort an additional 30 million won from her family.

The initial court sentenced the man to 10 years, but the Daejeon court hiked up the final verdict to 17 years.

The convict’s information will be available online for 10 years upon his release. He will wear a GPS tracking device for the same period.

By Lim Jeong-yeo (kaylalim@heraldcorp.com)