Lawmakers yesterday questioned what they said was the leniency given to entertainer Mickey Huang (黃子佼) despite court documents saying that Huang had been in possession of seven child pornography videos, including videos that featured children as young as 12.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chiu Chih-wei (邱志偉) said he had obtained documents on the deferred prosecution to which Huang was setenced, compiled by the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office, adding that after reviewing the document, he found that Huang’s “criminal behavior” was much more hideous than had previously been reported.
“The victims were mostly Taiwanese, some aged as young as 12. Some of the victims in the video were subjected to cruel treatment and sexual abuse,” he said at a news conference at the legislature in Taipei yesterday.
Photo: Lo Pei-de, Taipei Times
The prosecutors’ investigation found that Huang had obtained the illegal sex videos from a members-only Web site that was based in Taiwan, Chiu said.
“The prosecutor said that because Huang had no prior criminal record, it was likely just ‘a momentary lapse of reason,’ and therefore decided on a deferred prosecution, only requiring a fine and for Huang to write a 1,200-word letter of apology. This decision is far removed from the expectation of our society,” he added.
DPP Legislator Chung Chia-pin (鍾佳濱) said that society is in uproar over the decision, since it is not an isolated case, but the result of systematic criminal activities, adding that Huang purchased videos from the Web site in a series of transactions over seven years, from 2017 to last year.
Chung said that each transaction needed to go through complicated steps, and Huang only paid in cryptocurrency, to ensure his identity remained hidden throughout the process.
“We cannot agree with the prosecutors’ words that it was ‘a momentary lapse of reason,’” Chung said.
“Our society cannot accept that a person who conducted such a meticulous, well-planned criminal activity would be let off the hook,” he added.
DPP Legislator Chen Su-yueh (陳素月) said: “US and European countries take child pornography cases very seriously, and would mete out a severe punishment. For example in France, those convicted of child pornography offenses would receive a sentence of five years in prison and a fine of 75,000 euros” (US$77,776).
Chiu called on the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Health and Welfare to take a more hardline approach to those found guilty of crimes relating to the sexual exploitation of children, adding that the Child and Youth Sexual Exploitation Prevention Act (兒童及少年性剝削防制條例) has no deterrent effect, since punishments are too lenient.
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