The suspected lynchpin behind a child rape scandal in Guizhou province is to face the death penalty after prosecutors decided to try her on charges of forced prostitution, it was announced yesterday.

Yuan Li, 37, also know as Yuan Ronghui, is alleged to have arranged for seven men to have sex with 11 teenage girls, some as young as 13, between October 2007 and July last year in Xishui county.

She had previously faced charges of "sheltering and introducing prostitution", which carries a maximum punishment of five years in prison.