Woman detained in sex-VCD case

The Taipei District Court yesterday ordered the detention of "spiritual growth" instructor Kuo Yu-ling (郭玉鈴), the key suspect behind the secret filming of a video allegedly showing a sexual encounter between a female politician and her married lover.

After a second round of questioning Kuo yesterday, prosecutors sought her detention, saying the suspect could attempt to destroy evidence in the case.

Taipei District Court Judge Tseng Cheng-lung (曾正龍) approved the request.

Chen Hung-ta (陳宏達), spokesman for the Taipei District Prosecutors' Office, said yesterday that Kuo remained the key suspect behind the 40-minute sex video that was distributed by tabloid-style magazine Scoop Weekly last week.

The 44-year-old woman once taught spirituality lessons to Chu Mei-feng (璩美鳳), the former director of Hsinchu's Cultural Affairs Bureau who is believed to be the woman in the video.

"Kuo's testimony during the second interview conflicts with her first interview and the evidence we have discovered so far," Chen said.

"In addition, her behavior has violated Article 315-2 of the Criminal Code, which makes it illegal to violate a person's privacy for profit," the spokesman said.

Chen said prosecutors were concerned that Kuo would attempt to destroy evidence yet to be uncovered in the case if she remained free. "As a result, we've decided to detain her for further investigation," Chen said.

Lin Jinn-tsun (林錦村), chief prosecutor for Taipei who is leading the investigation, said yesterday that two "secret" witnesses had provided testimony against Kuo.

"Kuo's testimony was very vague and weak," Lin said. "She could not make her words logical and her comments sounded fake to us. We have strong reason to believe that she is one of the suspects."

Lin also said that the testimony from the two secret witnesses suggested Kuo had lied in her statements to investigators.

"That was also an important reason why we decided to detain her," the prosecutor said.

Also yesterday, prosecutor Huang Mou-shang (黃謀信) led a second search of Chu's Tamsui apartment -- where the video was allegedly filmed -- in search of further evidence. Police believe there may have been more than one hidden video camera in the apartment. But prosecutors yesterday did not say whether more evidence had been uncovered.

In addition, Chen said, prosecutors have been trying to contact Tseng Chung-ming (曾仲銘), the married businessman that allegedly appears in the video.

"I have talked to him," Chen said. "But it seems to us that he's not very willing to be interviewed by prosecutors at this moment. Currently, we view him as a victim rather than a witness, so we haven't issued any summons yet."

Chen said investigators hope Tseng would be willing to volunteer his testimony in the case, rather than wait for a summons.Also See Politician