New Taipei Couple Indicted for Forcing Disabled Daughter into Prostitution to Repay Debts

Central News Agency (New Taipei) June 2 - A couple in New Taipei City, struggling with debt, allegedly forced their disabled daughter to engage in sexual acts with two creditors as compensation for their debts. The New Taipei District Prosecutors Office has indicted the couple for violations of the Human Trafficking Prevention Act and other charges, while the two creditors were indicted for forcible sexual intercourse. According to the indictment, the victim holds a Category 1 disability certificate and lived with her biological father and stepmother. The couple, in urgent need of money, exploited their daughter's lack of livelihood and economic capacity, as well as her low intelligence and inability to seek help, by agreeing with creditors to have her provide sexual services as collateral for loans. Between 2023 and 2025, the couple forced their daughter to engage in sexual acts with creditors surnamed Zheng and Chen to offset debts. Zheng and Chen engaged in sexual acts against the woman's will. During the investigation, Chen denied sexual assault, claiming that after the father brought the daughter to his home, he told her, "You are an adult and can make your own decisions," and "I did not know this was forcible sexual intercourse; I now know it was my mistake." Zheng admitted to engaging in sexual acts against the woman's will. The couple denied the charges, but the daughter testified that when she told her parents she did not want to go to Chen's house, her stepmother said, "You have to go even if you don't want to," and "You must stay overnight so we can borrow money." The prosecution determined that the couple committed the crime of "harboring or mediating for profit with the intent to have a woman engage in sexual acts" under the Criminal Code, and "using the situation of another person who cannot or does not know how to seek help to engage in sexual acts for profit" under the Human Trafficking Prevention Act. Zheng and Chen were indicted for forcible sexual intercourse.