Zero tolerance ordered for crimes against minors

BEIJING - The Supreme People's Court (SPC) on Wednesday vowed "zero tolerance" of crimes infringing upon minors' rights such as child molestation.

With International Children's Day falling on Saturday, the SPC ordered lower courts to impose harsher punishments on such crimes according to the law and to stick to the principle of "minimum tolerance and maximum protection".

A statement issued by the court quoted an unnamed official as saying, "Criminal cases involving child molestation, corporal punishment and abuse of minors have been occurring frequently in China recently."

Factors including economic and social transition, inadequate awareness of protection mechanisms, and incomplete management and prevention measures have led to the rise of such cases, he said.

But high pressure and stiffer punishments have been maintained to contain the crime of infringing upon minors' rights, the official added.

The SPC also published details of three "guiding" cases for judges' reference when handling child molestation and other cases relating to infringement of minors' rights.

One of the cases involved a village primary school teacher surnamed Bao who molested seven school girls and raped six of them scores of times in more than two years before he was reported to police in September 2011. Bao also took nude photos and videos of the female students.

He was sentenced to death and was executed recently, according to the SPC.

The second case cited by the SPC concerned Li Yanqin, who maltreated her stepdaughter and beat her to death in May 2011. Li was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve, as the court considered the fact that she had sent her stepdaughter to hospital immediately and confessed all her criminal acts.

The SPC also gave the example of Deng Jiawen, who incited several minors to commit burglary multiple times and extorted a huge amount of money between August 2010 and February 2011. Deng was sentenced to seven and half years in prison and was fined 4,000 yuan ($646.2).

Several child molestation cases have made headlines across China recently. A primary school headmaster and a government employee in Wanning city, Hainan province, were detained by police on May 14 for allegedly sexually assaulting six female students. The case was transferred to a local court on Tuesday.