Former television host Mickey Huang (黃子佼) was today sentenced to one year and six months in prison, with a suspended sentence of four years, by the High Court for possession of sexually explicit videos containing minors and obtaining victims’ personal data.
Huang is also required to complete 180 hours of community service and attend three sessions of legal education.
Photo: Taipei Times
The ruling can be appealed.
Today marks the case's second ruling, after both sides appealed the Taipei District Court’s sentence of eight months in prison and a fine of NT$100,000 (US$3,181) last December.
Huang was previously charged with possession of child sexual images and promoting a market for them, in contravention of the Child and Youth Sexual Exploitation Prevention Act (兒童及少年性剝削防制條例).
Since the ruling, the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office found an additional 586 videos containing a further 12 minors, bringing the total number of victims to at least 47.
The High Court revised the conviction to contraventions of the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法) after victims claimed he infringed on their personal data, increasing the sentence to one year and six months with a four-year suspended sentence.
Huang joined an online forum called “Chuangyi Sifang” (or Creative Private House, 創意私房) on Feb. 12, 2014, and used the forum to purchase and download sexually explicit videos and images, Taipei District Court said.
The original investigation found Huang in possession of 2,259 sexual images containing at least 35 minors, the youngest of whom was just ten years old.
The High Court held the second trial in March, in which Huang admitted to downloading the images but said that he did not know they were minors at the time and did not infringe on their private information.
Huang asked the court to assist him in reaching a reconciliation with the victims.
He reached settlements totaling several million NT dollars with 30 of the victims, leaving 17 unaccounted for.
He issued a statement yesterday that losing his wife, his child and his career had been the lesson of a lifetime and he deeply regretted his past actions.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was sentenced to six months in prison, commutable to a fine, by the New Taipei District Court today for contravening the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法) in a case linked to an alleged draft-dodging scheme. Wang allegedly paid NT$3.6 million (US$114,380) to an illegal group to help him evade mandatory military service through falsified medical documents, prosecutors said. He transferred the funds to Chen Chih-ming (陳志明), the alleged mastermind of a draft-evasion ring, although he lost contact with him as he was already in detention on fraud charges, they said. Chen is accused of helping a
SECURITY: Starlink owner Elon Musk has taken pro-Beijing positions, and allowing pro-China companies to control Taiwan’s critical infrastructure is risky, a legislator said Starlink was reluctant to offer services in Taiwan because of the nation’s extremely high penetration rates in 4G and 5G services, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said yesterday. The ministry made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, which reviewed amendments to Article 36 of the Telecommunications Management Act (電信管理法). Article 36 bans foreigners from holding more than 49 percent of shares in public telecommunications networks, while shares foreigners directly and indirectly hold are also capped at 60 percent of the total, unless specified otherwise by law. The amendments, sponsored by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ko
NON-RED SUPPLY: Boosting the nation’s drone industry is becoming increasingly urgent as China’s UAV dominance could become an issue in a crisis, an analyst said Taiwan’s drone exports to Europe grew 41.7-fold from 2024 to last year, with demand from Ukraine’s fight against Russian aggression the most likely driver of growth, a study showed. The Institute for Democracy, Society and Emerging Technology (DSET) in a statement on Wednesday said it found that many of Taiwan’s uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) sales were from Poland and the Czech Republic. These countries likely transferred the drones to Ukraine to aid it in its fight against the Russian invasion that started in 2022, it said. Despite the gains, Taiwan is not the dominant drone exporter to these markets, ranking second and fourth
The eastern extension of the Taipei MRT Red Line could begin operations as early as late June, the Taipei Department of Rapid Transit Systems said yesterday. Taipei Rapid Transit Corp said it is considering offering one month of free rides on the new section to mark its opening. Construction progress on the 1.4km extension, which is to run from the current terminal Xiangshan Station to a new eastern terminal, Guangci/Fengtian Temple Station, was 90.6 percent complete by the end of last month, the department said in a report to the Taipei City Council's Transportation Committee. While construction began in October 2016 with an
RSS