6 men sentenced for running online child pornography ring

Taipei, Dec. 25 (CNA) Six men were sentenced Wednesday to between 1.5 years and 12 years in prison for tricking or blackmailing underaged girls into filming sexually exploitative pictures and videos and then selling them online.

According to the indictment by Taichung prosecutors, a 35-year-old man surnamed Pan (潘) began soliciting sexually explicit photos from underaged girls on Instagram in 2021 using fraud and threats.

Pan then uploaded the images to a Telegram channel he created, called "SCP," and sold or traded them with other users, in a manner apparently modeled on South Korea's "Nth room" case, prosecutors said.

Later, Pan enlisted five other men to help him, including a 37-year-old beef noodle soup store owner surnamed Chen (陳), and others surnamed Chang (張), Liu (劉), Su (蘇) and Lee (李).

In total, the group victimized 86 girls aged 9 to 17 from across Taiwan, earning around NT$8 million (US$244,290) in illicit profits, according to the indictment.

Chen, in particular, was found to have recruited girls by promising them money or iPhones in return. After obtaining their images, Chen blackmailed victims into sending more by threatening to publish them if they refused, prosecutors said.

The crime ring was ultimately busted based on information provided by the operator of another child pornography chat group on Telegram, who was arrested in late 2022.

Following an investigation, the Taichung District Prosecutors Office indicted Pan and the five other suspects last December for violations of the Organized Crime Prevention Act and the Child and Youth Sexual Exploitation Prevention Act.

On Thursday, the Taichung District Court found all six men guilty, sentencing Pan to six years in prison, Chen to 12 years, Liu to ten years, Chang to three years, Lee to 8.5 years, and Su to 1.5 years, suspended for four years.

The sentences are subject to appeal.