Teachers Sentenced in Student Prostitution Ring

(Guizhou Province, China) A middle school teacher, Chi Yao, has been sentenced to death and another teacher, Hai Long, received 11 years in prison for their roles in a sickening prostitution ring involving young teen girls. The teachers' wives, Zhao Qingmei and Li Huiyan, operated the ring and one of them was also sentenced to death.

Reportedly, the ring forced 23 girls, six being younger than 14, to have sex with men during the period from March to June 2006. More than 20 young girls were given to men seeking virgins and 22 of the girls were local primary or middle school students.

From Shanghai Daily:

Zhao Qingmei, 28, the mastermind, was sentenced to death in Weining County last Friday, the report said. She sold snack food on campus after working as a temporary teacher at the Central Primary School in Xinfa township of Weining, the report said. Her husband Chi Yao was a teacher at the township's middle school.

In March 2006, Zhao planned with a local woman identified as Wei Yaqin, who is still on the run, how to earn money by forcing teenage girls into prostitution.

Interestingly, Zhao's husband, Chi Yao, was also sentenced to death but with two years' probation. However that works?

Fourteen other people were also prosecuted for their involvement in the ring and received prison sentences from one year to life. Many were hostel owners.

Companion post at Education Watch International.