VCD suspect barred from leaving

A "spiritual growth" instructor who has emerged as a key figure in a controversy involving the distribution of a secretly filmed sex video was barred from leaving the country yesterday.

Kuo Yu-ling (郭玉玲) attempted to leave for Hong Kong with her son from CKS International Airport, local media reported yesterday.

But a travel ban ordered by prosecutors prevented her from making the trip.

Investigators are attempting to identify the camera person behind a 40-minute sex video that was distributed by the tabloid Scoop Weekly last week.

The video allegedly depicts a sexual encounter between Chu Mei-feng (璩美鳳), the 36-year-old former director of Hsinchu's Cultural Affairs Bureau, and her married lover, businessman Tseng Chung-ming (曾仲銘).

Kuo yesterday said that she wasn't behind the video, which was shot with a pinhole camera.

Investigators have focused their attention on Kuo because she once taught Chu spirituality lessons, had access to Chu's Tamsui apartment and reportedly has fallen out with her former student.

Kuo told a Chinese-language newspaper yesterday that she held no grudge against Chu, nor did she have any romantic feelings toward Tsai Jen-chien (蔡仁堅), the former mayor of Hsinchu and Chu's former boyfriend.

The spiritual growth instructor also said yesterday that she has received threatening phone calls, but did not elaborate.

Investigators say they plan to summon Kuo for questioning this week. They're also in the process of tracking down other suspects.

Kuo is an instructor at a "religious healing" center called Avatar, where Chu took courses. Kuo was spotted leaving her Taipei home yesterday morning and reporters camped out at her home haven't seen her since. Her whereabouts remain unknown.

Police are treating the release of the video as a criminal matter, saying its distribution violates laws that make the sale of indecent material illegal. Investigators also say the film violates Article 315-2 of the Criminal Code, which makes illegal the infringement of a person's privacy for profit, such as using secret cameras to film women in public restrooms and selling the footage.

Since last Monday, investigators have seized thousands of copies of the VCD, as well as the master copy. Police also seized the printing plates of last week's edition of Scoop Weekly, which contained a lengthy story about Chu's alleged promiscuity.

Police yesterday intensified search efforts for VCDs still in circulation, following reports that at least five different versions of the video might be available on the black market.