China: Death sentence for teacher who raped 18 school girls

A teacher in north-western China has been sentenced to death for raping 18 primary school girls aged nine and 10, state media reported today.

Xinhua News Agency said Cheng Laifu, a teacher in Changhe township in Dingxi city in Gansu province, was convicted of raping the 18 students on 70 separate occasions between September 2001 and March 2005.