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.

The ruling from the Dingxi Intermediate People’s Court said Cheng even raped several of the girls at the same time.