A man who abducted a 17-year-old girl from Hubei Province and brought her to Shanghai to work as a prostitute was sentenced to 10 1/2 years in prison yesterday by Minhang District People's Court.
Prosecutors said Xie Chao lured Zhang Mengmeng and a woman identified as Li Ai from a cyber cafe in Hubei by claiming he would show them around Shanghai in March 2012.
After Zhang and Li got into his car, Xie took their cellphones and drove them to Shanghai. Zhang was taken to a hair salon that fronts as a brothel on Hongxing Road. Li is still missing.
Zhang told the court she was forced to provide sex services, otherwise Xie would beat her. She was monitored at all times and was locked in her room when sleeping, Zhang testified.
Prosecutors said Xie forced her to work daily from 9am to midnight and didn't give her any money. Xie earned 150 yuan (US$24) from each customer who had sex with Zhang and gave 50 yuan per client to the hair salon's owner, who has been charged with providing shelter for prostitution.
Zhang was rescued after she told one client her father's cellphone number.
