HEFEI, March 27 -- A man in east China's Anhui Province has been sentenced to death for raping 16 underage girls, sources with the Intermediate People's Court of Wuhu City confirmed Thursday.

Wang Yong, 40, was arrested in September 2012 on charges of raping several schoolgirls, aged from 12 to 16, starting from 2009.

The Intermediate People's Court of Wuhu City sentenced Wang to death and deprived him to his political rights for life, and sentenced his accomplice, also an underage girl, to three years' imprisonment earlier in March.

Unemployed Wang posed as females on social communications networks such as QQ and WeChat to befriend schoolgirls, and coerced them to meet him. His victims were taken to hotels, where he raped them.

Meanwhile, the defendant instigated a 16-year-old girl, who claimed to be coerced by Wang, to seek younger victims for him. After winning their trust, this girl brought them to the hotels.

According to the court, Wang raped 16 underage girls 22 times, forcing them into the acts through threatening language and violence. His victims included eight girls under 14 years old.

The case triggered widespread public outrage in China after its exposure.