Human trafficker sentenced to five years' prison for abducting two boys

Human trafficker Wu Feilong, the ringleader in the high-profile abductions of two boys in South China in 2007, was sentenced to five years in prison by the Nanshan District People's Court in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, on Friday.

Wu was also ordered to pay the biological parents of Sun Zhuo 420,000 yuan ($57,506) in compensation, and the same amount to the biological parents of Fu Jiantao.

When Wu abducted Sun in Nanshan on Oct 9, 2007, the boy was 3 years old. Fu was 4 years old when he was abducted by Wu in Nanshan on Dec 28 the same year.

Sun and Fu were reunited with their biological parents in December 2021,

Another man, also surnamed Wu, was sentenced to two years in prison for harboring Wu Feilong's criminal activities.

The two Wus were apprehended by police in Shandong province in September 2021, and their prosecutions were initiated in June last year. The Nanshan court heard the cases in April this year.

Sun Haiyang, Sun Zhuo's father, told the media after Wu Feilong's sentence was announced that he did not accept it and intended to file a protest.

"My child was abducted for 14 years, yet the trafficker was only sentenced to five years in prison," he said. "In addition, I applied for 5.8 million yuan in civil compensation, but the court only approved 420,000."

The court said Wu Feilong took the two boys to the home of the other defendant surnamed Wu after their abductions and later entrusted their care to relatives or others in his hometown of Liaocheng, Shandong.

On Sept 27, 2021, when questioned by the police, the other defendant surnamed Wu intentionally provided false testimony regarding the crucial facts of the case with the intention of shielding Wu Feilong, the court said in a statement released on Friday.

The court found that Wu Feilong had abducted minors under the age of 14, separating them from their families or legal guardians, which constituted the crime of child abduction. The other defendant Wu's behavior constituted the offense of harboring.

The court's judgment was based on the facts, nature and circumstances of the case, as well as the defendants' admissions of guilt, it said.

Sun Haiyang kept looking for his son after he was abducted, with his quest providing the basis for the 2014 movie Dearest, directed by Peter Chan Ho-sun and starring Huang Bo and Zhang Yi, which brought widespread public awareness to the abduction case.