Guards penalized after prisoner uses app to blackmail women

14 people working at a prison in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province have received penalties after a prisoner reportedly used a smartphone to blackmail several women.

The governor and political commissar of the Nehe prison in Tsitsihar City have been removed from their positions.

Prosecutors say three guards are also being investigated for suspected negligence and abuse of power.

Investigators are going to perform checks at all prisons in the province to ensure security, since the case has exposed loopholes in prison management.

Yi Jianmin is the head of the investigation team.

"In the future, we'll learn a lesson from the Nehe case which is regarded as a negative example and take measures to rectify problems within prisons. The top priority should be improving the guards' qualities and standardizing their working style. We'll also fully utilize the prisons' signal blockers to cut off the prisoners' communication with the outside world."

Eyebrows were raised last week when a prisoner, surnamed Wang, was reported to have been chatting and subsequently blackmailing women that lived near the prison via the cellphone app WeChat.

Wang threatened the women with their naked videos and pictures and succeeded in swindling two of the women out of over 110 thousand yuan.

Initial media reports claimed that he had sex with the woman in prison after manipulating her to visit him.

The official investigation has not found evidence to support that claim.

Cellphones are banned in prisons and visiting times are monitored by prison guards.

Wang's case has caused public outcry over lax supervision and corruption in China's prisons.