Man pleads guilty to child trafficking in Yunnan, following wife's death sentence

A man pleaded guilty to child trafficking charges in a Yunnan province court on Thursday, a year after his wife was sentenced to death for the same crime, according to Beijing News.

Wang Jiawen, 66, appeared before the Gucheng District People's Court in Lijiang, facing charges of child trafficking and escape. He admitted to the crimes during the trial, with the court expected to announce the verdict at a later date, the report said.

The indictment revealed that Wang and his wife, Yu Huaying, had abducted two children from Lijiang and Dali, another city in Yunnan, and transported them to Handan in Hebei province.

The Lijiang police uncovered the couple's crimes in November 2022 after finding one of the victims, trafficked over 20 years ago, and reuniting them with their family. In January 2023, authorities in Dali located a second victim, Li Cong, in Handan and facilitated his reunion with his family.

Li's mother, Qing Suhua, had been searching for her son since he was abducted in 2002 at the age of four. In addition to seeking criminal punishment for Wang, Qing is seeking 5.5 million yuan ($778,541) in compensation, according to Beijing News.

Wang, a native of Chongqing, had previously been sentenced to six years in prison for theft in 1990 but escaped after serving just two years. He lived under false identities for more than 30 years across several provinces, including Chongqing, Yunnan, and Fujian, before being captured in September 2023.

Wang's case attracted widespread attention due to his connection with Yu, who was convicted of abducting and trafficking 11 children in the 1990s for financial gain. Last year, Yu was sentenced to death by a court in Guizhou province for her role in trafficking children from Chongqing and Guizhou to Hebei between 1993 and 1996.

Although Yu appealed the verdict, the Guizhou High People's Court ordered a retrial earlier this year, citing unclear and incomplete facts. Public security officials have also uncovered additional child trafficking offenses linked to Yu.