Two people have been sentenced to two years in prison and fined 10,000 yuan each for coercing children to beg in the first successfully prosecuted case involving such practices, a local court ruled Tuesday.

The court had heard evidence that Wang Qingcheng, 58, and Gong Jilan, 54, had rented two disabled children in May 2002 and coerced them to beg in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province.

They couple earned more than 10,000 yuan a year from the begging racket.

In the same case, Gong Chunbei, 61, was sentenced to 14 months in prison and fined 5,000 yuan for forcing his adoptive 12-year-old daughter to beg in Shenzhen.

Wang and Gong Jilan were arrested on August 10 last year, while Gong Chunbei was arrested on August 27. The arrests were part of a police crackdown on organized coerced begging.

The legislature last year amended Article 262 of the Criminal Law to impose a maximum three years' imprisonment and fines on people who coerced the disabled or children under the age of 14 to beg. Serious offenders face three to seven years' imprisonment and fines. The changes took effect on July 29, 2006.

The spokesman of the Shenzhen Futian District People's Court told reporters that the verdicts were proper and would both deal a heavy blow to the people behind coerced begging gangs and send out a warning to those thinking about entering the racket.

The three guilty parties were illiterate farmers with no criminal records. They did not harm the children in their gangs.

Lu Qiangming, chief justice of the case and vice-president of Shenzhen Futian District People's Court, said the amendment to the Criminal Law would curb the number of coerced begging gangs, according to a report by Guangzhou Daily.

Although the number of beggars has decreased in Shenzhen, Lu warned that criminal gangs might find other ways to make money.

(China Daily August 23, 2007)