China Sentences Teacher To Death For Child Rape

A court in northwest China has sentenced a teacher to death for raping 18 school children aged 9 and 10.

A court in northwest China has sentenced a teacher to death for raping 18 school children aged 9 and 10, the official Xinhua news agency said on Wednesday.

Cheng Laifu, a primary school teacher in Changhe town in Gansu province, was convicted of raping the grade three or four students on 70 separate occasions between September 2001 and March 2005, Xinhua said.

"Cheng forced or lured the children into his dormitory or office under the pretext of tutoring them before committing the crime," Xinhua said, citing a court statement.

"Cheng even raped several girls at the same time," it said, adding that "the crimes have had an extremely negative impact on society".

In July 2005, another teacher from the same town was sentenced to death for raping 23 schoolchildren in 2004, the agency said, adding that the director of the county education bureau resigned afterwards.