Ex-TV host gets suspended sentence in child pornography case

Taipei, Nov. 25 (CNA) The Taiwan High Court on Tuesday sentenced former television personality Mickey Huang (黃子佼) to one year and six months in prison, suspended for four years, for possessing child pornography.

Huang, who had been a well-known personality on Taiwanese television screens for three decades until allegations of sexual offences surfaced in 2023, is also required to provide 180 hours of labor service and take three legal education sessions.

The ruling can be appealed.

● Settlements in child sex images case announced on eve of appeal ruling

According to the court, Huang joined an online forum called "Creative Private House" on Feb. 12, 2014, and used the forum to purchase sexually explicit videos and images involving 37 minors aged 10 to 17 at the time.

Even after the enforcement of an amendment to the Child and Youth Sexual Exploitation Prevention Act on Feb. 17, 2023, which strengthened prohibitions on the production, circulation and procurement of sexually explicit images or videos of minors, Huang kept the images saved on his hard drive.

As such, the court refuted Huang's defense that he downloaded the content before the amendment to the law.

Huang violated both the Child and Youth Sexual Exploitation Prevention Act and the Personal Data Protection Act, according to the court.

He was sentenced under the harsher penalty of the latter, overturning the Taipei District Court's decision in December last year, which recognized only 35 victims and did not address Huang's privacy violations.

The district court at that time handed Huang a prison sentence of eight months.

However, the High Court noted that Huang had no previous criminal record, reached settlements with the 37 victims, and therefore granted him a suspended sentence.

After the court ruling, Yang Chia-ling (楊佳陵), a lawyer who represented one of the victims, told reporters that her client will not appeal, as the case has already achieved the best possible outcome at this stage.

She said the case shows the inadequacy of current laws in deterring digital sexual violence crimes.

Later, Yang also issued a statement saying that the case only represented "the tip of the iceberg," as many of the people who filmed and uploaded the images, and set up the forum, are still at large.

Yang said Huang's admission in his Monday statement that "without the downloads, there would be no supply" is key to exposing the structural roots of digital sexual violence.

Meanwhile, the Taipei Women's Rescue Foundation and ECPAT Taiwan criticized the ruling for neglecting the severity of digital sexual violence.

ECPAT Taiwan said that issuing a suspended sentence solely because settlements were reached is "completely contrary" to the spirit of laws designed to protect minors.