“Leigong’s” Son’s Abduction Case: Second Trial Finds Principal Offender Not Guilty, Court Will Announce Verdict at a Later Date

On the morning of November 28, the highly anticipated second trial of Wang Haowen’s child abduction and trafficking case was heard by the Sichuan Provincial Higher People’s Court. The trial concluded at noon that day, and the court will announce the verdict at a later date.
The Paper noted that during the first trial, Wang Haowen refused to admit the offense and denied abducting and trafficking Chuan Chuan, the son of Lei Wuze (“Leigong”). In June of this year, the Intermediate People’s Court of Nanchong, Sichuan, issued a first-instance verdict, sentencing Wang Haowen to death. Subsequently, Wang Haowen appealed.
After the second trial, Lei Wuze gave an interview to the media. According to Lei Wuze, during the second trial, faced with numerous evidences, Wang Haowen persisted in not admitting the offense and denied the facts of abducting and trafficking Chuan Chuan. In this regard, the prosecutor believed that the existing evidences were sufficient to prove that Wang Haowen abducted and trafficked Chuan Chuan.
The Paper previously reported that due to his somewhat unique left eyebrow, which “stands up,” Lei Wuze was nicknamed “Leigong” in the child-searching community. His son, nicknamed Chuan Chuan, was born in April 1998. In June 2023, after searching for his son for 22 years, Lei Wuze finally found his child Chuan Chuan. The following month, Chuan Chuan was reunited with Lei Wuze’s family. With the discovery of Chuan Chuan, the child trafficker Wang Haowen once again came into the public eye.
Previously, Lei Wuze told The Paper that the “child trafficker” who abducted Chuan Chuan was named Wang Haowen and was a habitual offender. When the police identified Wang Haowen, he was serving a prison sentence.
The evidences in the case showed that Wang Haowen had been engaged in abducting and trafficking children since October 2001. In 2006, he was sentenced to imprisonment for the crime of abducting children. After serving his sentence, he continued to engage in child trafficking until June 2014, committing 14 offenses in various places and continuously committing crimes for more than ten years. His previous and omitted crimes involved a total of 14 abducted and trafficked children.
The first-instance verdict stated that after being arrested, Wang Haowen refused to admit most of the charged facts in the face of conclusive evidences, did not cooperate with the investigative authorities in locating the abducted children, showed no remorse, and had extremely malicious intent. Therefore, he should be punished severely and strictly according to the law. His actions caused some victims’ parents to commit suicide, divorce, and suffer huge economic losses, causing social panic and unrest in multiple locations, and his criminal circumstances were particularly serious.
The first-instance verdict stated that the Nanchong Intermediate People’s Court found that Wang Haowen, Wang Xqiong, and Hu Xxiong, with the intention of selling, abducted and trafficked infants, and their actions constituted the crime of abducting and trafficking children, which should be punished according to the law. The facts of the offense charged by the public prosecution authority against the three defendants were clear, the evidences were conclusive and sufficient, and the charges were established, so they were supported. Wang Haowen abducted and trafficked 11 children, stole infants with the intention of selling them, and played a major role in the joint crimes of abducting and trafficking He Xx with Hu Xxiong, abducting and trafficking Liao X with Wang Xqiong, and abducting and trafficking Xiong Xx with Wang Xyan. He was the principal offender; Hu Xxiong and Wang Xqiong played collateral roles and were collateral offenders, who should be given a lesser punishment, mitigated punishment, or exemption from punishment. Based on the actual circumstances of the case, it was decided to give a mitigated punishment to the two.
The Nanchong Intermediate People’s Court issued a first-instance verdict for this case: Wang Haowen was found guilty of abducting and trafficking children and was sentenced to death, deprivation of political rights for life, and confiscation of all personal property; combined with the previous sentence of 15 years’ imprisonment and a fine of 50,000 yuan for the crime of abducting and trafficking children, the final decision was to execute the death penalty, deprive him of political rights for life, and confiscate all his personal property; Wang Xqiong was found guilty of abducting and trafficking children and was sentenced to three years and six months’ imprisonment and a fine of 10,000 yuan; Hu Xxiong was found guilty of abducting and trafficking children and was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment and a fine of 6,000 yuan; Wang Haowen’s criminal proceeds of 199,000 yuan were recovered and turned over to the state treasury.
According to Lei Wuze’s previous disclosure, during the first trial, Wang Haowen refused to admit the offense and denied abducting and trafficking Chuan Chuan. After the first-instance verdict was announced, Wang Haowen and Hu Xxiong appealed.
In the collateral civil compensation part, Lei Wuze claimed 1 yuan for travel expenses for searching for his child, 1 yuan for lost wages, and 1 yuan for mental damages from Wang Haowen and Hu Xxiong, totaling 6 yuan.