Painter gets death after blackmailing, raping 18

A PAINTER in east China's Anhui Province received the death penalty for rape after he blackmailed 18 women and girls into having sex with him with photos he created with editing software using their faces and different nude bodies.

The man, surnamed Huo, who operated a private studio in Quanjiao County, used different identities on Tencent's QQ instant messaging service, adding dozens of schoolgirls as his "friends" between 2005 and May 2011, Anhui Business News reported yesterday, citing the Chuzhou Intermediate People's Court.

Huo sent the girls pornographic stories and photos, and lured them into sex chats, the report said. He also added their portraits to unknown nude bodies with photo editing software and threatened to make the photos public.

Huo told the victims to meet him at hotel rooms and raped them, in some cases videotaping the encounters. He then used the videotapes to blackmail them, the court said.

The court also found Huo sexually assaulted some girls taking painting lessons at his studio, the paper reported.

Huo raped 23 females a total of 28 times, including five young girls raped eight times.

The court said he posed severe social damages and was handed down severe punishment.

Huo has appealed the sentence, the paper reported.

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