A man surnamed Yang impersonated a “sister” on social media and lured a 17-year-old boy into sending him nude selfies in November two years ago. “I’m sorry, sister, I’m a little scared,” the boy repeatedly refused the next day, but Yang still demanded to video chat with the boy to instruct him on masturbation for his viewing pleasure. Although the two parties reached a settlement, the judge considered his prior record and repeated offenses against the boy, which constituted a serious offense, and sentenced him to 4 years in prison for inducing the boy to take sexual images on his own.
The prosecution alleged that Yang met the boy on social media on November 13, 2017, and on the afternoon of the 14th, she sent him a message using a female nickname: “If you want to lose your virginity, you still need to take a full-body photo without clothes so that your older sister can see it.” This message lured the boy to take a nude photo for her to view.
On the evening of the 15th of the same month, he video chatted with the boy via messaging app and instructed him on how to masturbate for the boy to watch, broadcasting the instructions live to Yang via his mobile phone. Later, the boy discovered that he had been blocked and could not contact Yang, so he called the police.
During police questioning, interrogation, and trial, Yang confessed to everything, which was consistent with the juvenile’s allegations, and there was supporting evidence such as screenshots of conversations between the two parties.
The Tainan District Court pointed out that Yang was sentenced to 1 year and 8 months in prison with a 4-year suspended sentence in 2012 for intentionally molesting a juvenile offender. After the suspended sentence was revoked, he was imprisoned and released in April 2017 after serving his reduced sentence. In addition, he was sentenced to 6 months in prison in 2015 for molesting a boy under the age of 14. He was sentenced to a fine instead of imprisonment.
The Tainan District Court, after reviewing the case, found that Yang had a history of criminal record and showed no remorse. Knowing that the teenager’s mental development was not yet complete and his thinking was not mature, he deliberately posted on the Internet under the guise of a girl to entice the teenager to take nude photos and send them to her, in order to satisfy his own desires. He ignored the teenager’s repeated expressions of “I’m sorry, I’m a little scared,” “I’m about to cry,” and “But I’m really scared,” and still demanded that the teenager turn on the video, expose his whole body, and masturbate for his viewing. This harmed the teenager’s healthy physical and mental development and also had a negative impact on society.
Meanwhile, Yang confessed to his crimes during the investigation and trial, reached a settlement with the juvenile and his parents, paid 6,000 yuan in compensation in court, and was forgiven.
The Tainan District Court held that Yang’s actions had harmed the physical and mental health of the teenager, and that his subjective malice was not minor. Even though Yang reached a settlement with the teenager and his parents afterward and compensated for the damage, it could only slightly make up for the harm. Although the teenager and his parents expressed their willingness to forgive Yang and not to pursue the matter, considering the circumstances of his crime and the harm caused, the court found Yang guilty of inducing the teenager to take sexual videos and sentenced him to 4 years in prison.
