Man jailed for procuring prostitutes

Screen capture of the video showing a man was standing in front of the hotel door and started following the woman. [Photo/IC]

A man involved in a high-profile case in which a woman claimed she was assaulted in a Beijing hotel has been jailed for two years for procuring prostitutes.

Beijing Chaoyang District People's Court sentenced the 25-year-old, surnamed Li, at 2 pm Friday, fining him 5,000 yuan ($740) at the same time.

His case aroused public attention in April, when a woman with the Sina Weibo account name "wanwan_2016" posted that she has been followed and attacked by a stranger at the Yitel Hotel. Li was later identified as the stranger.

The court said in its judgment that Li pleaded guilty during the trial and confessed to procuring prostitutes in the hotel on March 1 and 9.

"Li introduced a woman to two men in the hotel, and received 1,300 yuan in the deal," the judgment said, adding that the others involved had been dealt with in a separate case.

The woman who posted online was confirmed to be an ordinary customer of the hotel, the court said.

Li, who is unemployed, was previously given three administrative detentions in September, October and December in 2014 for disturbing public order — the longest of which was for 10 days.

In addition to the sentence, the court made a judicial suggestion to the hotel on Friday, asking it to take measures to improve security checks.