An invisible hand is taking advantage of the openness and convenience of the internet to "molest" minors from a distance. It will pretend to be a "sister" of the same sex and buy indecent videos with 20 yuan; It may be a "boyfriend", offering an invitation to take nude photos and chat naked. When a child wants to refuse, the other person will use the photo in his hand to intimidate him. Legally, this kind of behavior is called "obscene from a distance". From 2018 to September 2022, 1,130 people across the country were prosecuted by procuratorial organs for using the Internet to "molest" minors from a distance.
An invisible "hand" uses the Internet to carry out hidden harm.
"Obscene from a distance" refers to the illegal and criminal behavior that the actor lures and coerces minors into "naked chatting" or sends "nude photos" and "nude videos" to commit obscenity by using the Internet as the medium to satisfy the purpose of sexual stimulation.
A dangerous "hand" is reaching out to minors through the internet.
In the first case of "molestation from a distance" handled by He Xing, the prosecutor of Nansha District Procuratorate in Guangzhou, a 35-year-old man used a chat applet to establish an online dating relationship with two 12-year-old girls, and later hoped that the girls could send him nude photos during the chat. When one of the girls wanted to break up and refused to continue sending photos, he threatened to spread photos everywhere. The girl was afraid and told her mother, who decisively called the police.
An 11-year-old girl from Wuhan met a "sister" who collected pictures on a short video platform in a case of "obscene from a distance" handled by liyao, the prosecutor of caidian district Procuratorate in Wuhan. Girls like Lolita skirts and often share photos of themselves in uniforms on social platforms. At the end of March 2022, she received a message: photo +v… … One for 5 yuan. The girl took the initiative to add WeChat. In her eyes, the other party is a "sister" with the same hobby — — Its WeChat avatar is a pink girl wearing a cat headband, and she is also commensurate with the girl as a "sister". In fact, the other party is a 26-year-old man who sells mobile phones in Guangxi county, 1000 kilometers away from Wuhan. The man spent 91 yuan to receive six photos and four videos of the girl.
"Indecency from a distance" was found by the juvenile court to constitute the crime of molesting children.
In November 2018, the "Luo Mou Case" in the 11th batch of guiding cases published by the Supreme People’s Procuratorate finally clarified the controversy, and made it clear that the indecent act of indirect physical contact through the Internet has the same social harm as the indecent act of actually touching children’s bodies, which can be considered as a crime of molesting children (accomplished).
The "Luo Mou case" that happened in 2017 is the first "indecent assault" case handled by the Jianghan District Procuratorate in Wuhan. In February 2023, Guo Yanping, the prosecutor who handled the case, talked about the troubles when handling the case six years ago.
The first is the legal gap. She didn’t find any precedents or legal explanations to refer to. Does Luo’s behavior meet the constitutive requirements of the crime of child molestation? In the process of handling the case, she and her assistant have been looking for evidence to answer this question.
In this incident, although there was no direct physical contact between the two sides, the girl suffered great physical and mental trauma. In January 2017, the girl began to become a netizen with Luo. By March 4, Luo was arrested, and the girl was panicked in the past two months. She once deleted the other party, but Luo made up other identities to add her QQ threat, and also found senior students in the girls’ school to "persuade" her to obey. The girl had no choice but to add it back. There are many details in the file that Guo Yanping still can’t say. Guo Yanping said that when judicial social workers provided psychological counseling for girls, girls had already experienced obvious post-traumatic stress reaction.
After combing the case files several times, Guo Yanping strengthened her judgment — — Luo’s behavior conforms to the two essential characteristics and external manifestations of the crime of child molestation. Guo Yanping explained that Luo subjectively wanted to achieve the purpose of sexual stimulation by watching the girl’s photos, and forced the girl to shoot, which seriously damaged the girl’s physical and mental health. After Luo got a nude photo of the girl, it was a crime.
The court of first instance did not find that Luo forced the girl to take nude photos and obtain nude photos through the Internet, and Guo Yanping firmly protested. After examination, the Wuhan Municipal Procuratorate supported the protest of the District Procuratorate. The Wuhan City Procuratorate believes that Luo’s behavior infringes on children’s personal dignity and mental health, conforms to the essential elements of the crime of molesting children, and has serious social harm.
"We hope that the court of second instance can identify the online defamation and clarify the differences. If it is not cracked down, the network will become a lawless place and everyone can do whatever they want. " Guo Yanping said, "‘ Indecency from a distance ’ The greater risk lies in transcending the time and space constraints. In the past, children were basically exposed to classmates and teachers, at least separated from society. The network has infinitely expanded their circle of communication, and it is too easy for people with bad intentions to find them. "
In the end, the court found that Luo had constituted the crime of child molestation (accomplished), and he was severely punished according to law and sentenced to two years in prison.
For such cases, Zhang Qi, director of the unchecked department of Wuhan Procuratorate, mentioned that from 2019 to 2021, the proportion of crimes involving cyber sexual assault on minors in Wuhan increased year by year. Some substantial sexual assault cases also originated from the Internet. Nearly 70% of sexual assault cases involving physical contact handled by liyao started from the Internet.
Prosecutor: Parents should remind their children not to trust strangers on the Internet.
Many times, minors can’t distinguish the identity, age, gender and appearance of people on the other side of the network, which makes it easy for many people to cheat with false information. He Xing said that the "child star case" a few years ago included the "molestation from a distance" case undertaken by herself. The suspects all took photos of others and used fake names and fake ages to associate with the victims. "But the minor doesn’t know at all that she will let her guard down because she is the same age."
Liyao said that at some point, the infringed minors may also feel that they are being "protected" by the Internet. No matter which part of the body is exposed, as long as it is not exposed, it is safe. "They don’t consider the subsequent impact of this matter, or what is the danger of being entangled by such people."
Why can these children trust the stranger they have never met so much? Liyao analysis, girls of this age began to develop physically, and there was an ignorant sexual consciousness. Under the guidance of various videos on the internet, I began to look forward to love. Without good guidance, she will find out what is "boundless".
Children look mature, but the innocence and simplicity of children will still be revealed inadvertently. In liyao’s impression, the little girl who was coaxed into selling photos was so simple. Her screen name was her real name, and she never wanted to hide her information.
Many victims are in single-line contact with the "big bad wolf" on these networks, which is difficult to be discovered by a third person. These people can choose the time, place and conditions that are more favorable to them. He Xing said, "Once they have mastered the nude photos of the victims, they have new chips. They are more likely to use their children’s psychology of not knowing how to deal with it and being afraid to continue to threaten and commit defamation. " Therefore, "if the guardian can’t find it, it will be even harder for outsiders."
Guo Yanping said that the most basic thing parents should do is to remind their children not to trust strangers on the Internet easily. "Parents only know to give a mobile phone, but they don’t know what the child is watching. You think he is studying, but he is not."
It is understood that prosecutors in Wuhan will also carry out preventive sexual assault and network security education activities in campuses, communities and villages in recent years. He Xingxing mentioned the "six protections" in the law on the protection of minors revised in 2021. Including family, school, society, internet, government and judicature, we should take action to carry out multidimensional sex education. "This cannot be done by one person or one institution alone."
He Xingxing said that schools should offer special sex education classes for students of different ages and genders. The needs of children at each stage are different, and their understanding and identification abilities are also different. This will really work.
Fang Gang, a sex educator, started the Owl Sex Education Camp for teenagers in 2013. After 2018, they added online sexual harassment to the curriculum. Until now, many parents feel that children need sex education until they are fifteen or sixteen years old. Fang Gang said, in fact, no, all issues related to sex should be carried out earlier. Wang Hongqi, a lecturer at Owl Sex Education Camp, explained that one of the basic principles of sex education is "advance".
Handling the case of "obscene from a distance" puts forward higher requirements for network supervision
Handling the case of "obscene from a distance" also puts forward higher requirements for network supervision. The "clean-up activities" in the past few years have played a good role in purifying cyberspace, but they have made it difficult for prosecutors to handle cases.
The most important evidence for handling the case of "obscene from a distance" is electronic data and chat records of both parties. He Xingxing explained that the crimes applicable to indecency from a distance are compulsory indecency and child indecency. They should identify whether the victim was forced through the chat records. If there is no compulsion, they should follow the clues of the chat records to verify whether the criminal suspect "knows" that the victim is a child under the age of 14 and is still threatening. At this level, whether the child is willing or not, the suspect is guilty of child molestation. The number and frequency of indecent assault are directly related to the applicable sentence of criminal suspects.
In the case He Xingxing handled, it was only found that the suspect had six or seven QQ numbers, but according to my account, there were other QQ numbers, but the account number could not be found. As the account can’t log in, the chat history is gone and some evidence disappears. He Xing thought, "Is there a possibility that these clues can be handed over to the public security organs earlier? In this way, the public security can find early strikes. "
This edition (except signature)/Reporter Liang Ting
Overall planning/planning
memory
The highest inspection issued a guiding case.
Establish the principle that indecent acts without physical contact are regarded as offline crimes.
According to the Rule of Law Daily, in October, 2022, the report on minors’ procuratorial work released by the Supreme People’s Procuratorate pointed out that in the past five years, crimes against minors have been rising continuously, among which cases of "indecent assault from a distance" against minors are high and frequent, and minors are very easy to become online prey of criminals.
Different from the traditional way of physical contact, "obscene from a distance" has the characteristics of being more concealed and more harmful. Although there is no direct physical contact with the child victim, using the Internet to force minors under the age of 14 to send photos, videos, naked chats or even insulting and obscene language is a serious violation of children’s personal dignity and mental health, and it has the same social harm as the indecent act of actually touching children’s bodies, which should be considered as the crime of obscene children. In view of the fact that some "big bad wolves" coerce girls to take selfies and upload nude photos through online chat, which seriously infringes on children’s personal dignity and physical and mental health, as early as 2018, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate issued a guiding case to establish the principle of prosecuting indecent acts without physical contact as offline crimes.
Some children’s medical experts pointed out that the psychological impact of sexual assault on children is often obvious and lasting. For example, fear, nightmares, difficulty in getting along with others, learning difficulties, etc., and some also use drugs, breaking the law or even self-harm to express their inner pain, resulting in depression and anti-social behavior.
To cut off the cyber black hand of "obscenity from a distance", the law, supervision, schools and families must do their respective duties, work together, and pay equal attention to punishment and prevention. The Criminal Law Amendment (XI), which came into effect in 2021, has enumerated the bad circumstances of child molestation, further refining the provisions of heavier punishment for the crime of child molestation, including (1) molesting children for more than one time; (2) Gathering people to molest children, or molesting children in public places, and the circumstances are bad; (3) Causing injuries to children or other serious consequences; (4) Those who commit obscene acts or have other obscene circumstances may be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than five years, and may be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of at most fifteen years. Of course, in view of the new cybercrime, China’s laws need to be further improved, and network law enforcement and evidence collection should be strengthened.
Network platforms should also fulfill more social responsibilities, strengthen their own supervision, further improve the "youth mode" of surfing the Internet, especially chat and live broadcast software, develop a harmful information identification system involving minors online in time, and take timely intervention and shielding measures to stop pornographic and obscene information about minors from spreading on the Internet, so as to create a safe and green network space for minors. Schools and families should pay close attention to children’s dynamics, educate, guide and supervise minors to use the Internet correctly, guide minors to establish a correct world outlook on the Internet, and actively resist the invasion of bad information on the Internet.
