TWO men who ran a fake model agency have gone on trial in Beijing charged with forcing teenage girls into prostitution.
Hu Weidong, the owner and Meng Zhibang the talent scout of the Yuan Yuan Studio have been charged with organizing prostitution and forcing teenagers to become sex workers.
The scandal came to light after 19-year-old twins, identified as Qin Yun and Qin Qing, wrote to Zhang Weigang, director of the public security bureau in Beijing's Haidian District, saying the agency was engaged in prostitution and they had been forced to take part.
Hu and Meng had 100 girls working for the studio and each had had to have sex with Hu and Meng before being introduced to clients, the twins wrote in an open letter to Zhang Weigang posted on their blog.
The twins joined the agency in September 2007 after Meng persuaded them to work for the studio to realize their dreams of becoming film stars. Meng gave them his card which said he was vice chairman of the Beijing Model Association.
Hu promised them a bright future and training. Hu, who is in his 40s, said he was a teacher at the Beijing Film Academy. He told the twins and other girls that they should have sex with him and Meng, and that it was an unwritten rule in the industry.
The twins said some girls were brainwashed to help Hu and Meng shoot pornographic pictures and videos. They also said they had to act as escorts for wealthy clients and if they refused they were beaten. They met more than 20 clients in two months and had sex with seven of them.
The twins said they were told to ask the clients to pay their college tuition fees, from 10,000 yuan (US$1,460) to 30,000 yuan. They would then hand over half the money to Hu. Some of the girls could earn the studio 1 million yuan a year, according to another girl.
The trial was being heard in the Haidian District Court in Beijing yesterday.
***
Related Links
No. 1 Lingerie Model
2009 Shanghai International Model
Oh No You Didn't...Bitten by a Prostitute?!
Warning：The use of any news and articles published on eChinacities.com without written permission from eChinacities.com constitutes copyright infringement, and legal action can be taken.
All comments are subject to moderation by eChinacities.com staff. Because we wish to encourage healthy and productive dialogue we ask that all comments remain polite, free of profanity or name calling, and relevant to the original post and subsequent discussion. Comments will not be deleted because of the viewpoints they express, only if the mode of expression itself is inappropriate.
Please login to add a comment. Click here to login immediately.
Sign up with
Google
