Hanoi - Police in Vietnam have arrested four students accused of spreading "debauched cultural products" by posting a sex clip featuring a teen television star onto the internet, a policeman said Thursday. The clip, showing 19-year-old Hoang Thuy Linh and a boyfriend, caused a nationwide scandal and cost the starlet her job.
Her hit television shown, Vang Anh's Diary, was cancelled last week after a national outcry.
Thuy Linh played an earnest school girl in the show, which had millions of young viewers and adult fans who saw Thuy Linh as a good example for Vietnamese school students nationwide.
The star, whose career is considered over in still-conservative Vietnam, apologized on television.
It had been previously unknown just how the private clip - which appeared to be a home video - made its way to the internet, but on Thursday police arrested four college students.
"We arrested four students today for disseminating debauched cultural products and they have all pleaded guilty," said Nguyen Duc Binh, chief investigator of Hanoi Police Department.
The 16-minute clip started to leak weeks ago when a boyfriend of Thuy Linh lent his computer containing the clip to one of his student friends, according to police.
The clip was then sent to many other people before it was edited and posted on the internet earlier this month by Nguyen Huu Tai, 23, a student at FPT-Arena College in Hanoi, police said.
Three other students ages between 21 and 24, who posted the clip on websites, were also arrested along with Tai on Thursday. They include Vo Thanh Hiep at FPT - Arena College, Nguyen Thu Linh at London Fashion School and Vu Thi Thuy Linh at Thang Long University.
Disseminating debauched cultural products is subject to prison terms of up to 15 years plus a cash fine of up to 30 million dong (1,870 dollars), according to Vietnam's penal code.
