Kang Yong, former deputy police officer of Tianan County, Hebei Province, received a 16.5-year prison sentence for having sex with six teenage girls for months.

Kang was convicted by the People's Court of Tangshan, Hebei Province, northeastern China, in August, but the sentence was only released on December 9 in Beijing News. According to the indictment, the former 54-year-old police boss had sex with 6 girls under the age of 8 8 times, from the summer of 2017 to the beginning of 2018.

Kang became suspicious after trying to bribe police colleagues to stop investigating a group of 12 people arrested in March 2018 for staging a car accident scene to cheat.

The group later confessed to raping teenage girls and taking photos and videos of naked girls to extort money, forcing them to work as prostitutes, and had to introduce more victims to their lines. Three of the operational instigators were convicted earlier this year.

A source familiar with Beijing News revealed that dozens of men, including businessmen, officials and civil servants, were involved in the group's activities, but not everyone was punished for lack of evidence.

Kang was investigated by the Chinese Communist Party's disciplinary inspection agency in July 2018 and he confessed to being involved in a child prostitution line. Kang's first victim was a 13-year-old girl. The girl was then forced to introduce more victims at his request.

Kang pretended to be a doctor when having sex with girls, claiming that the victims had misrepresented their age. The court also received information that a 13-year-old girl told other girls to put on heavy makeup to look "older".

The 13-year-old girl has not been investigated or punished for being under the age of criminal responsibility. Sex with a girl under the age of 14, whether voluntary or compulsory, constitutes rape under Chinese criminal law.