A prominent Yunnan academic has become embroiled in a sordid scandal and now stands accused of multiple crimes. The imbroglio began when screenshots from an illicitly recorded video were made public on the internet earlier this week.

On Tuesday, an anonymous netizen using the screen name "wwkmdws" posted images of a man and woman having sex on web forum Tianya. The pictures were accompanied by text naming the man in the video as Wang Wen (王文), vice chairman of the Kunming Institute of Zoology. The pictures and story went viral almost immediately after they were uploaded.

Accompanying the illicit photos were other images of a woman's badly bruised leg as well as hotel receipts. Captions claim the injury was the result of a beating the woman received from a beer bottle wielding Wang, while the receipts "prove" Wang rented a hotel room for the tryst.

The woman in the video has yet to be identified. However, media and internet speculation both maintain she is an employee — or perhaps a graduate student — working for Wang, who was allegedly forced "into a sexual relationship in exchange for her post at the institute".

The Kunming Institute of Zoology reportedly had received complaints regarding Wang's improprieties beginning in December of last year. The institute officially dismissed Wang from his position on January 9, citing "improper conduct" as the reason. A formal investigation is now being conducted by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, of which Wang is a member.

The former professor, as of this writing, has not been charged formally with any crimes. However, the loss of his job and the public flogging he is now receiving on the internet have, in all likelihood, destroyed his reputation regardless of his innocence or guilt.

Secretly filming prominent figures having sex in order to discredit or dishonor them has become something of a cottage industry in China. On the same day the video of Wang went viral, an academic in Shaanxi was fired over similar accusations stemming from a sex tape. In 2013, hundreds of officials, businessmen and academics lost their jobs due to illicitly filmed videos of this kind, 20 alone in Chongqing.