Official to avoid children molestation charges

(CRIENGLISH.com)
Updated: 2008-11-06 10:15

Shenzhen Public Security Bureau holds a press conference on Wednesday, November 5, 2008, announcing the result of an investigation over an official's misconduct in public. [sznews.com]

An investigation has found that an incident in which a former official grabbed a young girl was "drunken misbehavior" not "child molestation," the public security bureau of Shenzhen told reporters on Wednesday.

Lin Jiaxiang, former Communist Party chief and deputy director of the Shenzhen Maritime Safety Administration, was sacked from his post after drunkenly losing control in public last Wednesday night.

Photos and video clips of the incident have been posted online, which show Lin attempting to force an underage girl into the men's restroom after getting drunk in a seafood restaurant in Shenzhen. The girl, surnamed Chen, managed to escape.

According to both Lin and the girl's statements, there were body contacts, but Lin only grabbed the girl by her shoulder and neck, the spokesman said.

"The video captured by the restaurant's closed-circuit cameras shows no evidence of molestation, which is in line with both Lin's and Chen's statements," the spokesman said.

However, Lin's behavior had an extremely negative impact on society, which merits punishment, according to the spokesman.

Local policeman Liu Chuan explains the positions where the young girl and Shenzhen Maritime Safety Administration official Lin Jiaxiang were, as the latter misbehaved in front of the girl after getting drunk in a local seafood restaurant in the undated photo. [sznews.com]