Diary of a sex slave: Police rescue 5 girls, including a 12-year-old,from sex ring in West China; five more still missing
Girls lured with fake waitressing, other jobs; teen's diary records number of clients served in six months
Five girls - one aged 12 - were rescued from a gang that forced them to work as prostitutes in Xining, Qinghai province, local media reported.
The fate of another five girls held captive by the gang was not known.
The girls, who were also beaten if they refused orders, were held at a residence and one kept a diary detailing the number of customers she served and how much money changed hands.
They rescued five girls and were still looking for a fifth suspect. There was no news on the five other girls.
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Most of the girls were about 14 or 15. They all came from Yichun in Jiangxi province, with some lured to Xining with false promises of waitressing jobs, reported yesterday.
The gang operated out of a home in an estate complex near Anyan Road and Xichuan Nan Road. They placed adverts for sex online and after a price was agreed, the customer was sent photos of the girls and asked to select one.
The girl was taken to the client, often in a hotel room, and picked up afterwards. The gang kept all of the money.
If the girls refused to cooperate or became unruly, the captors beat them with batons or even hammers.
Read more: Mainland China finally considering reclassifying sex with underage prostitutes as rape after pressure from activists
The police found the diary kept by one victim, 17, who wrote she was forced to serve 40 customers in six months, while the 12-year-old girl had been forced to have sex 30 times.
The ordeal came to light after the father of one of the girls filed a missing persons report. His daughter had gone to Xining for a waitressing job with several other girls, but he had lost contact with all of them.
Police launched an investigation and received tip-offs from residents who noticed young girls with strange accents near the estate.
Only five girls were rescued and returned home.
The mainland has recently abolished the crime of soliciting underage prostitutes, leaving adults who have sex with minors to be charged with rape.
Previously, anyone who has sex with a prostitute under the age of 14 faced a maximum of 15 years in prison, while sex with a girl under 14 was classified as rape and punishable by death.
