Of the 34 cases of online sexual abuse of children, the longest was six years

According to data from the Supreme People's Procuratorate, from January to June 2023, procuratorates across the country prosecuted a total of 17,000 cases of sexual assault against minors, accounting for 63.5% of the total number of crimes against minors prosecuted. On May 18, Beijing Zhongyi Public Welfare Foundation and the Girls Protection Fund of the China Children's Culture and Art Foundation (hereinafter referred to as "Girls Protection") released the "Girl Protection" 2023 Statistical Analysis Report on Child Sexual Assault Cases.

According to the Girl Protection team, there were 202 cases of sexual abuse of children (under the age of 18) publicly reported by the media in 2023. Among the 169 cases that indicate interpersonal relationships, acquaintances are prominent, accounting for more than eighty percent, covering the identities of acquaintances such as teachers and students, relatives, and neighbors; Such perpetrators often use their status to facilitate multiple crimes, and continue to commit crimes for a longer period of time. Not only that, but online sexual assault has become more and more common in recent years. Among the 34 cases of online sexual abuse of children counted this year, 85% of the perpetrators committed multiple crimes, and the longest span of the crime reached 6 years.

Sexual predators have committed crimes many times, accounting for nearly 60 percent of the crimes committed by acquaintances

Among the 202 cases, as many as 120 cases were committed by the perpetrator multiple times, accounting for 59.41%, including multiple sexual assaults on the same child victim, as well as multiple sexual assaults on multiple children; There were 54 cases in which one perpetrator sexually assaulted multiple people, accounting for 26.73%.

In terms of the length of time committed, there were 53 cases of sexual assault within a week, accounting for 26.23%; 13 cases in 1~12 months, accounting for 6.43%; 15 cases in 1~2 years, accounting for 7.43%; 19 cases in 2~5 years, accounting for 9.41%; There were 6 cases that were more than 5 years old, accounting for 2.97%. In particular, there were 40 cases that were more than 1 year old, accounting for 19.80%.

The "Girl Protection" team pointed out that this phenomenon is more concentrated in the crimes committed by acquaintances, and acquaintance relationships include teachers and students, relatives, neighbors, etc. This type of perpetrator often uses his identity to facilitate multiple crimes, and in the absence of external forces to stop it, the sexual assault usually does not stop automatically, and continues to commit crimes for 2~3 years or even longer.

At the same time, 169 of the 202 cases indicated interpersonal relationships, and among the 169 cases, acquaintances committed 141 crimes, accounting for 83.43%; There were 28 crimes committed by strangers, accounting for 16.57%.

Among the cases of acquaintances, teachers and teaching staff (including coaches, tutors, tutors, etc.) committed 58 crimes, accounting for 41.13% of the cases. netizens committed 27 crimes, accounting for 19.15%; 18 cases were committed by fathers, stepfathers, step-grandfathers, uncles and other relatives, accounting for 12.77%; Neighbors (including people from the same village) committed 15 crimes, accounting for 10.64%. In addition, there were 23 crimes committed by other people in contact with life and learning, such as family friends and classmates, accounting for 16.31%.

In response to the guardian's crimes, the "Girl Protection" team pointed out that common perpetrators include fathers, stepfathers, adoptive fathers and other relatives. Such cases often involve problems within the family, and victims are often hampered multiple times because of the constraints of family ties, economic dependence, emotional dependence, or pressure from public opinion.

In 2023, a typical case of the protection of minors released by the Intermediate People's Court of a certain city is that the perpetrator sexually assaulted a minor by using his status as an elder. From the summer of 2010 to the fall of 2017, while his niece Qian XX was in the third grade of primary school to the second year of high school, Zhao XX used violence and threats to forcibly have sex with the victim Qian XX on several occasions, and coerced Qian XX's relatives to prevent her from reporting it.

In May 2023, the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate jointly issued the "Interpretation on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in the Handling of Criminal Cases of Rape and Indecency with Minors", resolutely zero tolerance for persons with guardianship, adoption, care, education, medical care, and other responsibilities for minors who commit rape, indecency, and other related crimes, and crack down on them severely.

Online sexual assault cases are frequent, and the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Court have issued relevant judicial interpretations

According to the statistics of "Girl Child Protection" over the years, online sexual assault is showing an increasing trend. In 2023, 34 cases of sexual assault of children will be exposed online, including online and offline crimes (sexual assault committed by netizens after meeting with each other), of which acquaintances accounted for 15.8%.

Of the 34 cases, 11 occurred in cities, two in counties, and 21 cases did not specify where they occurred. Judging from the number of victims, there were 9 cases in which 5 or more victims were in 1 case, of which 14, 18 and 40 were victims.

The "Girls Protection" team pointed out that online sexual assault cases are highly hidden, and parents are generally not easy to detect, and minors are afraid of it, and even if they find out that they have been abused, they usually do not take the initiative to tell their parents. In cases of online sexual abuse of children, multiple victims are often found in a single case.

In addition, the proportion of multiple sexual assaults on children is also high, with 29 of the 34 cases in which the perpetrator has committed multiple sexual assaults, accounting for 85%. Of the 34 cases, the longest was six years, and the victims were multiple men.

With the development of the mobile Internet and the popularization of smart devices, minors have more and more opportunities to access the Internet, and they are getting younger and younger. There is also an increasing spread of pornography targeting children through the Internet.

It is worth noting that Article 9 of the "Interpretation on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in the Handling of Criminal Cases of Rape and Indecency with Minors" jointly issued by the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate in May 2023 clearly stipulates that coercing or enticing minors to expose their physical privacy or commit obscene acts through online video chats or sending videos or photos is to be convicted and punished as the crime of compulsory indecency or child molestation.

The youngest perpetrator was only 9 years old and the oldest was over 75 years old

According to the data, 56 of the 202 cases indicated the age of the perpetrator, with the youngest perpetrator being only 9 years old and the oldest being over 75 years old.

There were 12 cases in which the perpetrator was a minor, accounting for 5.94% of the total cases, a large increase compared with the data of previous years. There were 9 cases in which the perpetrator was over 60 years old (including 60 years old), accounting for 4.46% of the total cases.

In recent years, juvenile delinquency has aroused great concern in society. According to media reports in July 2023, an intermediate people's court pronounced a verdict on the "case of a junior high school girl being raped and killed by a classmate", and sentenced the defendant who was between the ages of 14 and 16 at the time of the crime to be sentenced to life imprisonment, deprived of political rights for life, and civil compensation to the victim's family. Although the defendant surrendered voluntarily, the methods of the crime were extremely cruel, the consequences of the crime were extremely serious, the subjective malice was extremely deep, the harm to society was extremely great, and the rights and interests of minors were seriously violated, and the punishment should be severely punished, and the punishment should not be mitigated or commuted.

In the 2023 cases, there are 3 cases in which the perpetrators are over 70 years old (including 70 years old). Judging from the cases in recent years, some elderly sexual predators are often not detained in child molestation cases, which also causes more complex social problems. Of the three cases, two occurred in rural areas, one in the county seat, and one in rural areas involved left-behind children. Due to the combination of social, family and other factors, left-behind children can easily become victims.

From the "girl protection" tracking case, it is found that the phenomenon of "polarization" of the age of sexual assault offenders has increasingly attracted social attention. In this type of crime, the causes of the perpetrator's crime and the punishment measures are worthy of continuous study.

Written by: Nandu reporter Huang Liling

Data provided by the Girls Protection Team