You must wear heavy makeup and miniskirts...... Why did the music restaurant find a minor?

Chai is a wine salesman, but he organized a number of underage girls to go to a music restaurant to provide customers with paid escorts such as wine and singing, and he made a profit from it. "I swiped some little girls on the short video platform, and after I asked for the contact information, I asked them if they wanted to make money, and asked them to ask if there were any other friends who wanted to go to work in other places. Chai explained.

The Quwo County Procuratorate in Shanxi Province handled the case of organizing minors to carry out activities that violated the administration of public security in accordance with the law, creating a clean and honest legal environment for the healthy growth of minors. The procurator handling the case told reporters that in recent years, some entertainment venues have violated laws and regulations by allowing minors to enter and leave at will, and some lawbreakers have even taken advantage of minors' immature mental development, lack of social experience, and weak sense of self-protection to organize minors to engage in paid escort activities such as drinking and singing, which has seriously affected the physical and mental health of minors and hindered the order of social management. "In this regard, law enforcement and judicial departments should attach great importance to this, and take action when it is time to act. ”

Focus on the front end: supervise the filing of cases and guide the investigation in accordance with the law

On the evening of August 24, 2022, Chai was discovered by the patrolling police when he organized several underage girls (some of whom were school students) to be paid escorts in a music restaurant. In accordance with Article 14, Paragraph 1, Item 4 and Article 43 of the Regulations on the Administration of Entertainment Venues, the public security organ ordered the restaurant to suspend business for three months for rectification.

"You must wear heavy makeup and miniskirts to work, you must not play with your mobile phone, you must not accept the escort fee of guests without permission, you must not ask for leave at will, and you cannot leave with the guests without permission......" It is understood that for these underage girls, Chai carries out unified management and training, and the girl's escort income is 150 yuan per hour.

From June to August 2022, in just two months, Chai made a profit of nearly 20,000 yuan.

After learning of the clues of the administrative punishment, the Quwo County Procuratorate believed that Chai, for the purpose of profit, organized minors to be paid escorts in entertainment venues, which not only endangered the management of social security and the normal teaching order of the school, but also infringed on the minors' rights to education and health, and put the minors at risk of possible harm or were tempted to embark on the road of violating the law and crime, and Chai should be investigated for criminal responsibility for the crime of organizing minors to carry out activities that violate the administration of public security.

In April 2023, the Quwo County Procuratorate supervised the filing of the case by the public security organs in accordance with the law, and then the public security organs launched an investigation.

If the case can be established, it must be handled even more. After the public security organs filed the case, the Quwo County Procuratorate promptly dispatched the backbone of the unprosecuted business to form a case-handling team, and intervened in a timely manner in accordance with the law to guide the investigation.

According to Chai's confession, in the music restaurant involved in the case, there was also a Henan man named "Haohao" who organized underage girls to accompany them for a fee. The court suggested that the public security organs use "Haohao" as a breakthrough point to further collect evidence, and send personnel to Henan and other places to guide the investigation on the spot. In the end, the case-handling personnel strengthened the evidence of Chai's suspected violations and crimes, and found out the criminal facts of "Haohao" and others organizing minors to serve as paid escorts. At the suggestion of the court, the public security organs handed over the criminal gang headed by "Hao Hao" to the Henan police in a timely manner. A few days ago, members of the "Haohao" gang were sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment ranging from eight months to two years and four months by the Mengjin District Court of Luoyang City, Henan Province, for the crime of organizing minors to carry out activities that violated the administration of public security.

Focus on the mid-end: prosecute the offenders and improve the quality and efficiency of supervision

In the process of reviewing and approving Chai's arrest, the prosecutor in charge found that Chai was not the actual operator of the music restaurant involved in the case. So, what role did the owner of the music restaurant play in the "business" of Chai and "Haohao"?

After the prosecutor in charge explained the law and reasoned, Chai took the initiative to report and expose the actual operator of the music restaurant involved in the case, Zhang, and the manager Yang. On the basis of the clues in their possession, the procurator in charge of the case formulated a detailed outline for supplemental investigation, and actively guided the public security organs to continue supplemental investigation.

After supplementary investigation, it was learned that in order to increase operating income, Zhang and Chai decided to organize underage girls to provide paid escort services for customers in music restaurants after repeated "research", which was managed by Yang on the spot. After Chai was captured, Yang was directly involved in the organization and management work. In July 2023, the Quwo County Procuratorate issued a supplementary notice of transfer for prosecution to the public security organs in accordance with the law, prosecuting Zhang and Yang.

Subsequently, the Quwo County Procuratorate successively prosecuted Chai and three others. In view of the fact that all three pleaded guilty and accepted punishment voluntarily, the court sentenced them to fixed-term imprisonment ranging from nine months to one year for the crime of organizing minors to carry out activities against the administration of public security. None of the three appealed.

Convergence end: comprehensive performance of duties, boost the management of litigation sources

During the handling of the case, the prosecutor in charge found that the music restaurant involved in the case was engaged in KTV business activities beyond the scope of the business license, which was one of the reasons for the occurrence of this case. In this regard, the case-handling team gave full play to the advantages of centralized and unified handling of juvenile procuratorial operations, and launched public interest litigation investigation procedures on July 21, 2023, to find that the venue had illegal problems such as exceeding the scope of operation and soliciting customers with paid escorts of minors, which seriously affected the physical and mental health of minors. In this regard, the Quwo County Procuratorate issued a procuratorial recommendation to the relevant administrative departments, suggesting that they strengthen the supervision and management of the music restaurants involved in the case, and inspect and rectify the catering industry throughout the county, so as to prevent illegal operations and protect the legitimate rights and interests of minors. After receiving the procuratorial suggestion, the Quwo County Market Supervision and Administration Bureau attached great importance to it, revoked the business license of the music restaurant involved in the case in accordance with the law, and actively carried out special rectification activities.

Recently, the Quwo County Procuratorate and the county Public Security Bureau carried out a "retrospective" review of the rectification effect, and found that after continuous rectification, the entertainment venues in the jurisdiction have posted "minors are not allowed to enter" signs, strengthened the verification of minors entering the entertainment venues, and effectively improved the awareness of the rule of law among employees. During the return visit, the procurator in charge of the case focused on explaining to the operators of entertainment venues the prohibitions prohibiting minors from providing or engaging in for-profit escort activities, and used the relevant cases as a warning to warn them not to blindly pursue profits and ignore the protection of minors, achieving the good effect of "handling one case and governing one area".

Relevant Laws:

Article 58 of the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Minors stipulates that for-profit entertainment venues, bars, Internet access service business sites, and other places that are not suitable for minors' activities shall not be set up in the vicinity of schools and kindergartens. Operators of for-profit singing and dancing entertainment venues, bars, internet access service business sites, and other venues for activities that are not suitable for minors must not allow minors to enter; Business operators shall set up signs in conspicuous locations prohibiting or restricting minors from entering, and where it is difficult to determine whether they are minors, they shall be required to present their identity documents.

Article 61 of the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Minors stipulates that minors under the age of 16 may not be recruited by any organization or individual, except as otherwise provided by the State. For-profit entertainment venues, bars, internet access service business sites, and other venues that are not suitable for minors must not recruit minors who are already 16 years old.

Article 262 bis of the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China stipulates that whoever organizes minors to engage in theft, fraud, robbery, extortion, or other activities that violate the administration of public security shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years or short-term detention and shall also be fined;

Source: Procuratorate Daily Justice Network