Investigation continues on child assault case

Yangshan county government in Guangdong province has established a joint working task force on Wednesday to carry out further investigation on the case in which a 13-year-old boy was suspected to have sexually assaulted an 8-year-old girl in a local park late last month.

According to a statement published by the county government on its official website on Wednesday, the boy surnamed Chen has confessed to the fact he had violated the victim, and he has now been sent to a local specialized school for disciplinary education in accordance with the laws.

And relevant departments have provided comfort to the girl and her family members, said the statement.

Chen is a grade-two student of a local junior high school while the girl is a pupil of grade two in a local primary school, they did not know each other prior to the incident, it said.

The case took place at about 6 pm on Feb 26 when the victim and her elder sister played in a park near their home. The sister went home early after they had a quarrel, leaving the victim in the park alone. The girl was later violated by Chen.

The girl's parents who do business in the town then sought police help and took their daughter to hospital for further examination after the girl returned home and told her parents she was violated. The police then found Chen that night.

On Monday, police informed the victim's family that they would not put the incident on file for further investigation, as no criminal punishment will be imposed on Chen due to laws and relevant regulations where the guilty party is under 14 years old at the time of committing the crime.

The case has raised great concern among locals.