Detained Chinese internet celebrity ‘suspected of abducting minors and forcing them into prostitution’
An internet celebrity has been detained by police in eastern China after months on the run, accused of abducting young girls and forcing them into prostitution.
Gao Fei, 28, has been in police custody for a week in Zhuji, Zhejiang province while the investigation continues, Qianjiang Evening News reported on Monday.
Zhuji police said Gao was “suspected of being involved in numerous cases of abducting minors and forcing them into prostitution”, but did not say how long he would be detained for, or whether he had been formally arrested or charged, according to the report.
Gao has more than 4 million followers on video-sharing websites and continued to live-stream while he was wanted by police. Officers had been searching for him since March.
The investigation began in June last year, after a suspect in an assault case in Zhuji told police he had become involved in abducting girls for prostitution through Gao, the report said.
Gao, who is from Rongjiang county in Guizhou province, denied the allegations in an earlier interview with Zhuji Daily, saying he had not “broken any law” and that his videos always promoted “positive energy”.
He rose to internet fame in 2016 after posting videos of himself smashing up a Lamborghini. Gao told the newspaper he had borrowed the sports car and the videos had been staged, without actually damaging the vehicle.
He went on to make a living from live-streaming, earning “rewards” or “donations” from fans that ranged from thousands of yuan up to 200,000 yuan (US$28,180) per session. He said he had made more than 6 million yuan from live-streaming but gave away a lot of his earnings to charity.
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Police began searching for Gao in his village in Rongjiang after he posted videos of his newborn son to social network Weibo on August 4 that held clues to his location, according to Qianjiang Evening News.
The videos showed the baby boy wrapped in a blanket that carried a “Rongjiang County Women’s Hospital” label, and the background scenery appeared remote and mountainous.
Officers went to the village with two police dogs on August 19 and found fake guns and knives, along with Gao’s mobile phone and ID card. They told his parents to persuade their son to give himself up, but Gao called police later that day, telling them he would turn himself in after he threw a banquet to celebrate his son’s one-month birthday, the report said.
He reportedly told them, “You will never catch me, not even if I’m wearing slippers”.
After a surveillance operation at the family home, he was intercepted by police officers when he returned in the evening of August 19 and was taken away to Zhuji where he remains in detention.
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