On Wednesday, three individuals convicted of child sex offenses were executed in China, as announced by the Supreme People’s Court, China’s highest judicial authority.
The court emphasized that these executions of individuals, all guilty of raping girls younger than 14, highlight China’s firm stance against child sexual abuse and are intended to deter future offenders.
One of the executed men, a primary school teacher named Guo, was convicted of raping six female students over 100 times between 2013 and 2019. At the time of the initial abuse, all victims were under 14 years old.
Another executed individual, a laborer with the surname Shang, sexually abused eight girls through deception or force from 2011 to 2020. He encountered his victims in various public spaces such as parks, buses, and near kindergarten entrances. The court statement also noted that he coerced some of his victims into ongoing sexual relationships by threatening to expose inappropriate images of them.
The third man, a village shopkeeper known as Gong, was found guilty of forcing a girl in his village into sexual acts for nearly five consecutive years starting in 2015, when the victim was under 12. Tragically, after suffering multiple instances of sexual abuse by Gong and others, the victim took her own life at 16 in 2020, according to the statement.
The top court affirmed that China’s judiciary will decisively impose sentences for child sex abuse offenses warranting the death penalty.
The statement highlighted that most child sex abuse offenders tend to be family members, educators, neighbors, or individuals who meet their victims online. These perpetrators often target minors unable to protect themselves, particularly rural children with absent parents due to work or children with intellectual disabilities.
Under China’s Criminal Law, any person engaging in sexual intercourse with a girl below 14 is classified as committing rape, which incurs severe penalties.
