Two government officials in separate provinces have been named in sex photo scandals - but the two cases may have very different outcomes.

Earlier this week, a woman, claiming to be unemployed, accused an official with the People's Congress of Ruyang County in Henan Province of requiring her to have sex in exchange for a job.

She shot a video of their encounter and posted several pictures from it on Tianya.com, an online forum.

In the pictures, the face of the official could be seen clearly. The poster also published two cellphone numbers, but didn't reveal the man's name.

The post quickly spread across many forums, provoking nationwide concern.

Yesterday, Luoyang City's commission for disciplinary inspection confirmed that the man in the picture was Tian Hanwen, an official with the Ruyang People's Congress.

One of the cellphone numbers published in the post was his. Tian has been sacked and was waiting further punishment. The woman's claims needed further confirmation, it was reported on People.com.cn, a news website.

Meanwhile, an official in Kunming, capital of Yunnan Province, was also caught up in sex photo scandal but police have now confirmed the photographs were faked.

Kunming web user "Dongtai'an" claimed to have found a flash drive belonging to an official surnamed Cheng with the Kunming Commission of Development and Reform that contained several sex videos. Dongtai'an posted three pictures from the videos on Tianya.com. These showed a man with three women, all naked. In one of the photos, Cheng's face could be seen.

According to the China Youth Daily, Cheng reported the matter to the police, saying this "had never happened." He had been transferred from his post, said the newspaper.

But yesterday, police said the pictures were montages, Yunnan.cn, the province's official new website, reported.

Other Chinese officials have been caught up in sex photograph scandals recently.

Liu Ning, director of the Xinshi community office of Baiyun District, Guangzhou City, capital of Guangdong Province, was suspended in June after screenshots showing him chatting on webcam while naked circulated online.