Beware of Child Sexual Abuse in Vietnam

In the 5 years (2011-2015), the whole country discovered over 8,200 cases of child abuse, with nearly 10,000 victims, an increase of 258 victims compared to the previous 5 years. The number of sexual abuse cases accounted for 5,300 cases (about 65%) and increased sexual abuse of men.

School security guard molested elementary school students

On the afternoon of March 30, responding to the press, the commander of the Muong Khuong District Police (Lao Cai) said that the investigation agency had prosecuted and detained Do Van Nam (35 years old, security guard at La Pan Tan Primary Boarding School, Muong Khuong District) - the person accused of sexually abusing many girls at the school.

According to initial testimony, from 2014 until the time of discovery, taking advantage of his position as a security guard at La Pan Tan Ethnic Boarding Primary School, Nam sexually harassed and molested a number of students from grades 1-5, mainly ethnic minorities. To carry out his bestial acts, the man used chips, candy, milk... to lure the children into his security room and then "perpetrated" them.

Do Van Nam at the investigation agency. Photo:Tuan Hieu.

Seven days earlier, the incident had come to light when Mr. Cao A Củi, Principal of La Pan Tan Boarding Primary School, informed the press that recently many female students at the school had been behaving strangely. Some of them had skipped school and refused to go to school.

"The children revealed that they were molested by security guard Nam many times, some of them were abused for 3 years, but because they were too scared, they did not dare to report it," said Mr. Củi.

Knowing the incident, the school board coordinated with the parents of these students to report Nam's behavior to the authorities. According to the authorities, Nam moved to Lao Cai in 2005 and has been working as a security guard at La Pan Tan boarding elementary school for a long time.

Molesting male children and posting the clip online

Mr. Hoang Xuan Phong, Department of High-Tech Crime Prevention (Ministry of Public Security) warned that traditional crimes are shifting to high-tech activities, especially crimes of child sexual abuse.

"With 31% of Vietnam's population using Facebook, the risk of children being abused from images shared by relatives is an alarming reality," Mr. Phong shared.

A typical case showing that child sexual abuse crimes are shifting their activities to the Internet is the case of police arresting Nguyen Tran Bao Anh (21 years old, in Long An) for the act of Disseminating obscene cultural products, in early 2015.

Previously, the Criminal Police Department (Ministry of Public Security) discovered that the website managed by Bao Anh, with a server located abroad, was spreading obscene culture, with content mostly consisting of pornographic clips and photos of sexual intercourse with children.

Bao Anh and equipment used to distribute obscene publications. Photo: Provided by the investigating agency.

Police determined that there were about 1,300 child homosexual obscene films on this website; nearly 700 male homosexual images. Members who want to view clips and images on the site must pay a virtual currency fee. The virtual currency is converted by the administrator to phone cards or bank transfers.

Authorities determined that the amount of money transacted through Bao Anh's account and the account he had someone else use was more than 900 million VND. The young man from Long An confessed that he had personally appropriated about 200 million VND while managing the forum, buying and selling child pornography. Bao Anh also admitted to sexually abusing 3 male children at the places he rented.

Speaking to Zing.vn, Lieutenant Colonel Tran Van Binh, Deputy Head of Department 9, Criminal Police Department (C45, Ministry of Public Security) said that when searching Bao Anh's residence, the police seized many nude photos of him with children (7-9 years old) in Vietnam. A representative of Department C45 confirmed that this was the first time the investigation agency recorded a crime of sexually abusing male children and then posting clips and photos online in the country.

Regarding this case, the Supreme People's Procuracy has transferred the case file to the Duc Hoa District People's Procuracy (Long An), so that this agency can prosecute Nguyen Tran Bao Anh according to its authority.

Foreign musician sexually assaults male child

A few months after the Ministry of Public Security's Professional Department arrested Bao Anh, Hanoi police also received information about a foreigner named Ben (Canadian nationality), who frequently appeared in the Hoan Kiem Lake area, luring boys aged 13-15 to his home to commit lewd acts.

Ben is a teacher at an English center located in My Dinh 1 ward, Nam Tu Liem district. In the evening, the 44-year-old man often plays music at a bar in Hoan Kiem district to earn extra income.

Whenever he had a need, after 24 hours, Ben used his motorbike to go around Hoan Kiem Lake, looking for homeless boys to approach and seduce. One of the victims Ben lured was Nam (15 years old, from Hai Duong).

Nam dropped out of school after 6th grade. Since 2013, he has been working as a hired hand in Hanoi, living a vagrant life. While walking around Hoan Kiem Lake, Nam met Ben.

The foreign man took the initiative to get acquainted with the 15-year-old boy. He used a phone with an English-Vietnamese translation software to chat and ask about the boy's situation. Knowing that Nam had no place to stay, Ben invited him to his rented house on Tran Phu Street (Ba Dinh District). After giving Nam food and drink, Ben sexually harassed and sexually assaulted the victim.

Wandering around Hoan Kiem area (Hanoi), Ben often lured and invited newspaper boys and shoe shiners to his rented room to play and then committed lewd acts with them.

In addition to Nam, authorities also have documents proving that Ben molested two other young victims from Hanoi and Bac Ninh. According to the victims, after each abuse, Ben usually gave them from 100,000 to 300,000 VND.

Police identified Ben's real name as Vadim Scott Benderman (45 years old, Canadian nationality). During the investigation, authorities arrested the foreign man.

In early 2016, the Hanoi People's Court held a closed trial of Vadim Scott Benderman, sentencing the foreign man to four years in prison for child molestation. The prosecutor's office determined that Ben's actions violated the child's physical and psychological development; affected good customs and traditions, and caused social disorder.

According to Zing.vn