Dalian boy confesses to killing

A 13-year-old boy in Dalian, Northeast China's Liaoning province, confessed to the killing of a 10-year-old girl on Sunday, local police said.

However, the boy, surnamed Cai, will not face criminal charges because he is not yet 14 — the age of criminal responsibility under the Criminal Law — the Dalian public security bureau said on Thursday night.

He was sent to a rehabilitation center on Thursday, the police said.

The girl's father told news app Jinyun News that Cai tricked the girl into his home, sexually assaulted her, stabbed her to death and dumped her body in the road side greening belt.

The girl's parents found the girl dead on Sunday afternoon near their home.

The girl's older brother dropped her off at a painting class at 1 pm on Sunday. She was supposed to go home after the class ended at 3 pm. The parents realized something was wrong when they did not see her at 3:40 pm, as it takes only 15 minutes to walk from class to her home.

The girl's mother said they live in the same community with the suspect and Cai goes to the same middle school as the girl's brother, yet they do not know each other well.

Although the boy is only 13, he is already 1.7 meters tall and weighs more than 70 kilograms, according to the girl's mother.

The girl's uncle told Beijing Youth Daily the family has hired a lawyer and they want Cai to get "the most severe punishment" for what he did.