BEIJING (AP) — A former Chinese elementary school teacher has been executed for molesting or raping 26 students, some as young as 4, in a case underscoring the vulnerability of rural children left behind by parents seeking jobs in cities.
The intermediate People’s Court in the impoverished western province of Gansu said it carried out the sentence against Li Jishun on Thursday after it was upheld by the nation’s Supreme People’s Court. Li committed his assaults in the classroom, dormitories and surrounding forest areas in 2011-2012.
In its ruling, the Supreme Court said all of Li’s victims were girls younger than 12 who attended his village boarding school and “were his responsibility to educate and protect.”
“However, he took advantage of his status as teacher to repeated rape and molest the young girls, concealing his crimes,” the ruling said.
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