President Joe Biden has granted clemency to a Chinese national convicted of possessing tens of thousands of child pornography images, including material involving infant abuse. The decision comes as part of the administration’s sweeping clemency initiative, which includes commuting the sentences of approximately 1,500 individuals and pardoning 39 Americans convicted of nonviolent offenses.
The case in question involves Shanlin Jin, a Chinese national who pleaded guilty to child pornography charges in 2022. Jin was sentenced to 97 months in prison after authorities discovered an extensive collection of graphic material, including 47,000 images and videos. According to Plano police, investigators stopped reviewing Jin’s computer after identifying 1,338 explicit files, some depicting infants subjected to sexual violence.
The executive grant of clemency, issued on November 22, reduces Jin’s prison term to time served, provided he agrees to strict conditions, including immediate deportation and a permanent ban from re-entering the United States. The clemency order further prohibits Jin from profiting financially from any media or publication related to his conviction. The official clemency document, signed by Biden, emphasizes the national interest in Jin’s immediate removal from the country while maintaining his supervised release conditions. It also stipulates that Jin forfeits any legal claims or property connected to his conviction.
Originally from Beijing, he was set to graduate with a bachelor’s degree from the “Special Class for the Gifted Young at the University of Science and Technology of China” just before turning 19, as indicated by court documents. In 2016, he relocated to the U.S. for further studies, initially earning a master’s degree in economics from Temple University in Philadelphia, Dallas Morning News reported.
He moved to North Texas to start a PhD program in economics at Southern Methodist University, court records note. The criminal investigation into Jin commenced at the end of 2020, when undercover officers traced downloaded child pornography from a user later identified as Jin, according to the records. In January 2021, Collin County authorities searched Jin’s home, where he admitted to viewing child pornography. His attorneys sought to suppress the statements, but prosecutors argued he was not in custody. The judge refused, and an FBI agent testified Jin called child pornography “very bad stuff.”
“Right now, on your computer is a video of a …10- to 13 year-old girl being sexually assaulted,” an investigator told Jin. He then asked Jin what was the youngest person he’d seen in pornography images.
“Uh … I’m not sure, but maybe 16, 17, or 14?” he replied.
“Okay. We call that child pornography,” the investigator responded.
Shanlin was released in a prisoner exchange with the Biden administration, a move that China’s foreign ministry hailed last month as a success of their “tireless” government efforts, according to the Financial Times. Two other Chinese nationals had been convicted in the US on charges related to espionage. At his trial in Texas, an FBI special agent revealed, according to court records, that Jin’s family had ties to “influential members of the Communist Party in China.”
Last month, China’s foreign ministry maintained that the US unjustly held its three citizens but that they had been securely repatriated thanks to the “tireless efforts of the Chinese government.”
“This once again demonstrates that China will never abandon its compatriots under any circumstances, and the motherland will always be their strong support,” stated Mao Ning, a spokesperson for the foreign ministry.
