Beijing, Aug 7 (IANS) A provincial government official in China has been arrested for molesting, sodomising and raping four underage boys.

Li Jun, a section chief with the Civil Affairs Bureau in Guangzhou in Guangdong province, seduced young boys to have sex with him by offering them gadgets and cash to play money-charging online games, the Shanghai Daily reported Tuesday.

He made friends with more than 160 boys under 13 years, and four of them have been confirmed to be victims.

The man's crimes came to light in April when a father found his 12-year-old boy had performed badly at school and grew irritable and silent.

Overwhelmed by his father's questions, the boy confessed that he had sex with a man in his 40s six times in six months and in return got a computer worth 20,000 yuan (around $3,000) and 1,200 yuan in cash.