On the afternoon of the day Wang posted online, Liu accidentally saw the post about giving away a boy and also searched for an advertisement from a couple in Guangdong seeking to adopt. He then decided to act as an intermediary for the adoption.
The birth of his son brought not joy but frustration.
Family arguments and his girlfriend leaving without ever showing up again.
At 10 AM on January 29, 2010, Wang and his younger brother held their son and waited for "Chen Feng" at the North Gate of Beijing University of Science and Technology.
Unable to get paid, he stole the security captain's phone.
Prosecutor Wang Pu from Chaoyang District People's Procuratorate handling this case stated that buying and selling one’s own children with profit as the purpose has always been defined as "child trafficking". The Supreme People's Court and other four departments' issued "Opinions on Punishing Trafficking in Women and Children According to Law" further confirmed this point.
Meeting was arranged in a restaurant but instead of the buyer, police showed up.
Several days after the child was born, Ju prepared to be discharged from the hospital. But upon seeing the RMB 15,000 hospital fee and other costs, Wang was dumbfounded.
Wang never expected that giving away his son would come with a compensation fee. After hesitating for a moment, he calculated the expenses incurred over the past two years on his son, saying "raising this child for two years cost at least RMB 45,000 to 50,000, even RMB 100,000 wouldn't be too much." After some negotiation, they finally settled on a price of RMB 66,000 because it was considered auspicious as "six-six-six".
In December 2011, Chaoyang Court ruled that Wang and Liu ignored national laws, sold children with the intent to sell, and thus were guilty of child trafficking and should be punished accordingly.
Therefore, the two arranged for Wang to meet in a restaurant and simultaneously reported to the police, leading to Wang's arrest.
Since getting to know Ju, Wang's monthly salary of more than RMB 2,000 had to support two people, naturally leaving no savings. And after his father came to his cousin's company, he argued with his mother several times, then left the company, and had not been contacted for a long time.
Simultaneously, Liu acted as an intermediary in the child trafficking process and charged a commission, constituting child trafficking. The court trial procedures were legal, and the appeal reasons were unfounded, so the court did not accept them.
Court Verdict
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In September 2009, when his son was just over two years old, after witnessing a fierce argument between Wang and his father, Ju resolutely ran away from home. By the time Wang later went to trial, Ju had never shown up again.
At 10 o'clock in the morning on January 29, 2010, Wang and his younger brother held their son and waited for "Chen Feng" at the north gate of the University of Science and Technology Beijing.
Working for a while, hearing colleagues say there were cases where salaries weren't paid for two or three years, Wang decided to leave.
This period was the happiest time of Wang's life in over 20 years. Ju liked sour and spicy soup, and Wang bought her some every week. When shopping in malls, if Ju liked a piece of clothing, Wang would take out his savings to please his girlfriend. However, for unknown reasons, until the incident occurred, Wang and Ju only held a wedding in Wang's hometown but never officially registered their marriage.
Without anyone to rely on, not even someone to help take care of the child, this 26-year-old young father and his two-year-old child seemed to have reached a dead end.
Only talking about money means selling; whether or not money is received is not important.
Finally, Wang's uncle and Ju's family each contributed money, clearing the medical bills, allowing Ju to be discharged from the hospital holding Lele. However, after this event, Ju gradually became afraid of this broken, inhumane family.
Defendant Wang had previously been sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment for theft. Within five years after serving his sentence, he committed another crime, making him a recidivist, who should be punished more severely according to law. Given that the criminal acts already initiated by the two defendants failed due to reasons beyond their will, constituting an attempted crime, the crimes committed by the two defendants were legally mitigated.
The original court's verdict on the charges and application of the law was correct, the sentencing appropriate, and the trial procedures legal, which should be upheld. Therefore, the appeal was rejected, and the original judgment maintained.
After the second instance court reviewed, Wang planned to sell his child to others after negotiating the compensation fee with Liu, and implemented the act of selling, constituting the crime of child trafficking. His appeal reasons were unfounded, and the court did not accept them.
Before departure, since he could not get his salary, Wang casually took the security captain's phone. He was soon arrested and sentenced to ten months of fixed-term imprisonment by Haidian Court for theft.
Wang's defense counsel's claim that the first-instance judgment incorrectly identified facts, improperly accepted evidence, misapplied the law, and should not have imposed criminal penalties on Wang was found, upon investigation, that Wang sold children with the intent of illegal profit-making, proven by multiple pieces of evidence. Moreover, this case was not a refusal to foster within close relatives, warranting criminal punishment. Thus, the defense opinion was unfounded, and the court did not accept it.
The defendant Wang, having previously been sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment for theft, committed another crime within five years after the completion of his sentence, making him a repeat offender, who should be punished more severely according to law. Given that the criminal acts already initiated by the two defendants failed due to reasons beyond their will, constituting an attempted crime, the crimes committed by the two defendants were legally mitigated.
The original court correctly determined the charges and applied the law accurately, sentenced appropriately, and followed legal trial procedures, which should be upheld. Therefore, the appeal was rejected, and the original judgment maintained.
On March 15, 2010, the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, the Ministry of Public Security, and the Ministry of Justice jointly issued the "Opinions on Punishing Crimes of Trafficking in Women and Children According to Law", clearly stipulating in Article 16: "Selling one's own children with the intent of illegal profit-making shall be treated as the crime of trafficking in women and children."
Wang is from Hebei Province. His parents are farmers who make a living by farming, and the family lived very frugally. Additionally, since his father loved drinking, his mother often quarreled with him.
In 2003, Wang dropped out of school during his third year of junior high school due to financial difficulties at home. Introduced by relatives, he came alone to Beijing, first working at a garbage disposal company in Xiaotangshan, Changping District, and later changing to being a security guard.
Encountering a human trafficker, they agreed on a price of RMB 66,000.
The girlfriend left behind a two-year-old son and ran away from home. At the age of 26, Wang found raising a child alone too arduous and thus posted online wanting to "give" away his son. However, he didn't expect that the couple wanting to buy his son were anti-trafficking volunteers.
Young Father Unable to Care for His Son Wants to Give Him Away
On the evening of June 6th, according to the agreement, Wang and his brother came to a restaurant in Wangjing. Lele had just learned to talk a little, not even able to call "Dad," Wang thought there might not be many opportunities to hear him call "Dad" in the future, so he kept teasing him to talk: "Call Dad, call Uncle..."
After waiting for a while, Liu said he would go outside to wait for his cousin and his wife. However, not long after Liu left, several policemen walked in and took Wang and his brother to the police station. On February 9, 2010, Liu was also captured in Linyi, Shandong.
Later, the police told Wang during the interrogation that the real identity of the adopters was anti-trafficking volunteers assisting the public security organs.
Graphic / Li Ming
Two Sentenced to Fixed-Term Imprisonment for Child Trafficking
Both parties appealed to the Second Intermediate Court.
In February 2007, Wang met Ju, a girl from Jiangsu.
Co-habiting for about half a year, in March 2008, Ju gave birth to their son Lele (a pseudonym). Then Wang did not expect that the birth of his son not only did not bring happiness to the family but instead brought him trouble.
Ju worked at a restaurant in Beijing. They had been together for less than two months when Ju quit her job and moved in with Wang.
With one less economic source, life became even harder. Lele was weak and prone to illness. Without a Beijing hukou, many vaccines he should have received were missed, and frequent colds and fevers required large medical expenses.
Although Wang spoiled Ju greatly, his mother did not approve of this daughter-in-law, especially disapproving of Ju staying at home doing nothing at such a young age.
Family Changes
February 29, 2006, Wang was released from prison after serving his full term. After release, he went to work for a cousin's company in Chaoyang District, Beijing, which dealt in garbage collection business. Soon after, Wang's parents also came to work at this company.
Although Wang claimed he was "giving away" the child, asking the other party for RMB 66,000 as "compensation" was actually a transactional behavior. Whether or not he truly received the money is not important.
According to volunteers, they usually search for trafficking information online and found Liu highly suspicious. Thus, they pretended to be a couple and communicated online with the other party, discovering that both Liu and Wang were indeed involved in child trafficking.
Ju left, and Wang's mother quit her job to help Wang take care of the child.
Regarding the determination of "profit," it is generally seen whether the seller made a large monetary request. Wang claimed he was "giving away" the child but asked the other party for RMB 66,000 as "compensation," which is actually a trading behavior. Whether or not he actually received the money is not important.
Reported by Journalist Hong Xue
Liu's defense counsel's claim that subjectively, he did not have the intention to traffic children, and objectively, he did not engage in any behavior of trafficking children, and should not be considered a crime, was found to be unfounded based on facts and law, thus the defense opinion was not accepted.
4 Situations Defined as "Selling One's Own Child"
Father lost contact; girlfriend left home and never returned; mother returned to her hometown and likely severed ties; although his younger brother, two years younger, was nearby, he had just come to Beijing to work, struggling to make ends meet, let alone helping Wang.
More troublingly, the conflicts between Wang's parents were escalating. After taking care of her grandson for less than half a year, his mother abandoned the child and returned to her hometown, filing for divorce from his father in court. Before leaving, she left Wang with these words: "If I get divorced, I will no longer be concerned with your Wang family matters, including this child."
On the afternoon of January 27, 2010, Wang posted a thread on Baidu Tieba titled "Adopting a Boy in Beijing" and left his QQ number. Unexpectedly, Wang quickly received many responses.
The conditions offered by "Chen Feng," a businessman from Guangdong, seemed the best. "Chen Feng" said that the person who wanted to adopt was his cousin operating a leather business in Guangzhou. Although wealthy, his cousin had fertility issues and no children, thus wishing to adopt a boy.
Thus, Liu acted as a middleman. He told Wang that his cousin wanted the child, and told the Guangdong couple that his friend had a child to give away. Whether or not there was a compensation fee was proposed by the Guangdong side. After Liu negotiated the price with Wang, he also arranged a RMB 20,000 introduction fee with the Guangdong couple.
The next day, "Chen Feng" called, saying that his cousin was looking forward to this child, then asked: "How much compensation do you want for your child?"
The Opinion clarified the following four specific situations that can be defined as "selling one's own child":