Nghe An Court sentences group of people participating in 'dirty web' and depravity

Surprise about the operator

The People's Court of Nghe An province has just opened the first instance trial of the case of disseminating obscene cultural products run by defendant Nguyen Duc Vinh (born 1975, residing in Vinh City).

Also prosecuted in court were the following defendants: Truong Gia Huy (born in 1993, residing in Ho Chi Minh City); Pham Van Hieu (born in 1986, residing in Lai Chau province); Nguyen Binh Duong (born in 1986, residing in Vinh Long province); Ly Chi Quan (born in 1991, residing in Tien Giang province); Phan Thanh Tien (born in 1988, residing in Ca Mau province); Do Xuan Khai (born in 1996, residing in Dak Lak province); Nguyen Phuc Nghia (born in 2002, residing in Long An province); Nguyen Thi Huong Quynh (born in 1992) and Nguyen Manh Cuong (born in 1988), both residing in Hai Phong city), Phan Vinh San (born in 1996, residing in Thua Thien Hue province).

This is a case that has attracted public attention. Because over a long period of time, through the website “Thien Dia”, this group of subjects has shared and distributed over 19 million obscene and prostitution-brokering contents, attracting more than 1.1 million members to participate.

The main operator of this obscene website is Nguyen Duc Vinh. This person is severely disabled in mobility, has limited communication, and cannot walk or stand like a normal person.

According to the indictment, in early 2014, through social networks, Nguyen Duc Vinh learned that the administrator of the website “Thiendia2.cc” (with a server located abroad) - a website specializing in exchanging and sharing obscene content and prostitution brokerage - was recruiting members to participate in the administration, so he contacted Vinh. After that, Vinh was recruited to work by the administrator with the alias “Old Buddha” (unknown identity and background).

Vinh was assigned to manage (Mod) the “Eat and Play in the North” section, participating in censorship and editing articles of members in the section with a salary of 2.5 million VND/month. By 2016, Vinh was “promoted” to manage all the Mods below. In addition to the management task, Vinh was also assigned the right to recruit and organize activities to expand the forum. The managing members will edit and post obscene videos, images, sex stories, etc. on the forum to attract more participants.

In addition, to post more content for members to participate in, the administrator created a group on the Telegram application and added Vinh and some Mods to post obscene videos every day. At the same time, the link of the groups was posted on the forum for members as well as many people to join and access to watch.

Every day, with the general management work on the forum, Vinh will evaluate the level of active activities of the Mods through the number of videos, articles, content posted... on the forum. From there, Vinh will send it back to the administrator to pay salary through e-wallet. Every month, Vinh will receive salary from "Old Buddha".

On April 25, 2024, the police investigation agency summoned Nguyen Duc Vinh to work. At this time, Vinh asked to surrender and confessed to all the crimes he and his accomplices committed.

Authorities determined that Vinh had spread 12.9GB of pornographic and sexual content on the forum “Thiendia2.cc” and the Telegram group “Ráp chiếu phim lau xanh”, illegally profiting more than 360 million VND. The remaining Mods, depending on their management level, illegally profited from several tens of millions of VND to more than 200 million VND.

From member to criminal

Based on Vinh's testimony and the seized documents, the police issued an emergency detention order for the following subjects in many provinces and cities across the country: Truong Gia Huy, Pham Van Hieu, Nguyen Binh Duong, Ly Chi Quan, Phan Thanh Tien, Do Xuan Khai, Nguyen Manh Cuong, Nguyen Phuc Nghia, Nguyen Thi Huong Quynh, and Phan Vinh San.

Among these subjects, many people were active members of the “Thiendia” forum before joining the chain of spreading depraved culture. Nguyen Thi Huong Quynh is one of them.

At the end of 2017, Quynh registered to join the website “Thiendia” to view obscene photos and videos. At the end of 2022, Quynh saw a post recruiting collaborators to read articles and record audio for the website, so she applied. After that, Quynh was assigned by Vinh to write sex stories to send to Vinh for censorship.

Initially, Quynh was paid from 500,000 to 1 million VND for each post with sexually stimulating and obscene content. After that, this girl was paid monthly through e-wallet. The investigation agency determined that the total amount of money that Quynh benefited was more than 26 million VND.

Among the people who helped Vinh manage the obscene website, two people refused to accept the payment: Nguyen Phuc Nghia and Cuong. When he was arrested, Nghia was a student at a fairly famous university.

In court, defendant Nghia stated that he started accessing the website “Thiendia” when he was 18 years old to watch movies, photos and read pornographic stories. This young man often visited the section “Doctor 2 Guns Clinic - Sex Doctor” to comment and consult on reproductive health and sex. Around August 2021, Nghia was contacted by Vinh to join the forum's management board.

On this forum, Nghia is assigned to manage the sections “Doctor 2 Guns Clinic”, “Sex Stories - Adult Stories - xxx Stories” and “Sex Magazine - Lauxanh Magazine”. In addition to posting obscene content on the sections in charge, Nghia is responsible for reminding, enforcing, warning or banning accounts that post content that violates forum regulations.

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At the trial, defendant Nghia stated that his purpose of participating in managing the “Thiendia” forum was to provide advice and answer questions related to reproductive health, sexual health and other diseases for forum members. These tasks help the forum gain prestige, quality, increase interaction and attract more members.

However, in order to do his favorite job, Nghia had to fulfill Vinh’s other requests, including recruiting collaborators, writing and posting obscene content on forum sections. Also because he “did it for passion,” this defendant refused to accept payment. This content was confirmed by Nguyen Duc Vinh at the trial.

Defendant Nghia stated that during his studies, he had achieved many high achievements in provincial and national science and technology innovation competitions, and was awarded Certificates of Merit and Certificates of Merit by the school and leaders at all levels. The male defendant also stated that he was awarded the title of “3 Good Students”.

When questioned by the court: What do you think when you are an educated person, have achieved many achievements, have been awarded by all levels but participate in managing a depraved forum? Nghia was silent. A moment later, this defendant mumbled: "The defendant was wrong". The defendant asked the court to consider reducing the sentence so that he can soon have a chance to start his life over.

As the direct administrator of the obscene website, defendant Nguyen Duc Vinh admitted to the crime. He stated that due to a rare disease and limited health, he used the money he earned illegally to pay for medical treatment. The defendants in the case all expressed remorse and hope to receive leniency from the law.

The trial panel determined that the defendants committed organized and professional crimes, closely colluded, and assigned tasks and roles to each group and individual. The defendants’ actions violated the law, were dangerous to society, violated public order, violated traditional customs and traditions, and caused moral degradation…

After considering the role of each defendant in the case, the panel sentenced Nguyen Duc Vinh and Truong Gia Huy to four years in prison each. The remaining defendants received sentences ranging from 21 months in prison, but with suspended sentences, to 39 months in prison. The police are searching for those who hired Vinh's group to commit the crime, and will deal with them when they are caught.

Thus, it can be seen that, regardless of the justification, the defendants’ actions violated the law, violated good customs and traditions, degraded morality… and of course they were punished and had to pay the price for their wrongdoings. This is also a lesson and a warning for other young people.