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BEIJING, Nov. 4 (Xinhua) -- Li Shuaitao was sentenced to two years in jail by a court in Beijing for facilitating prostitution on Friday, after a video had appeared online where he appeared to assault and attempt to kidnap a woman from a Beijing hotel.
The sentence was announced by the Chaoyang District People's Court in Beijing at about 2 p.m. Li stood trial on Oct. 28 and was also fined 5,000 yuan (about 740.4 U.S. dollars).
Li, 25, was convicted of introducing two prostitutes to two customers in the Yitel Hotel in eastern Beijing's Chaoyang District on March 1 and 9. He gained a total of 1,300 yuan for the deals.
Li admitted to the crimes in court, but did not say if he would appeal.
Footage of Li attacking a woman at the hotel began circulating online after being posted on Weibo in April.
After being arrested in Xuchang City, Henan Province, about 760 km from Beijing, Li confessed to handing out cards to advertise prostitutes in the hotel when he saw a woman he assumed was a competitor. Accordingly, he contacted his gang to have her forcibly removed from the hotel.
Experts believe that the case exposes loopholes in the hotel's management.
Xinhua reporter learned from sources in the court that Li was never questioned by staff at the hotel when he was distributing cards. As he attacked the woman on April 3, a security guard noticed but failed to intervene.
"Hotels are obliged to ensure safety to customers," said Yi Shenghua, an attorney with Yingke Law Firm in Beijing. "Regulations should be tightened to prevent such incidents from happening again."
