A former school principal and a former government clerk in Hainan province were convicted of raping primary school girls and sentenced to more than 10 years in prison by a local court on Thursday.

The No 1 Intermediate People's Court of Hainan province heard the cases of Chen Zaipeng, former principal of Wanning No 2 Primary School, and Feng Xiaosong, a former clerk in the city's property administration bureau.

Both were convicted of rape. Chen was sentenced to 13 and a half years and Feng Xiaosong to 11 and a half years. Feng vowed to appeal to a higher court during the hearing.

The two men were arrested in May on suspicion of child molestation. Chen was accused of taking four girls to a hotel, and Feng was accused of taking two girls to another hotel on the evening of May 8. The girls were all in the sixth grade and aged between the ages of 11 and 14. Since all the victims are adolescents, the court hearing was not open to the public.

Zhao Sanping, director of Beijing Guangheng Law Firm and a senior criminal law lawyer, said although he was not involved with the case, he has paid close attention to it since it was first reported.

The two men were arrested in May on suspicion of sexually assaulting minors, but were transferred to the procuratorate after police completed their investigation.

The sentences matched Zhao's prediction. "The guilty verdicts for rape and more than 10 years' imprisonment are not surprising," he said.

"The case involved six minors and has had a very bad influence on society," he said.

Zhao also said the judiciary is not independent in China, which remains a serious problem. The final judgment may have been influenced by administrative intervention, by the media or public pressure.

"This case is no exception, but I think this time the case had a good result, which may satisfy the public."

The trial was heard in the Intermediate People's Court of Hainan, instead of the local court in Wanning, which could have helped to reduce influence from the local authorities in Wanning, Zhao said.

The Supreme People's Court announced last month that courts across the country will crack down harder on crimes committed against juveniles, show minimal tolerance toward such offenders and offer the highest level of protection possible for children.

The announcement came after at least nine child molestation cases were reported within 20 days nationwide in May.

Most of the suspects are teachers or school principals, prompting parents and the public to try to find ways to protect children from molesters, and calls for harsher penalties for such criminals.

On Wednesday, an official in Henan province was executed for raping 11 girls. Li Xingong, former deputy secretary general of the Yongcheng Party committee, was arrested in May 2012 on charges of raping several adolescent girls beginning in the second half of 2011.

Shangqiu City Intermediate People's Court sentenced Li to death and deprived him of his political rights for life.

Li appealed but it was turned down by Henan Provincial High People's Court. The execution was approved by the Supreme People's Court.

Contact the writers at zhaoyinan@chinadaily.com.cn and hena@chinadaily.com.cn

Huang Yiming in Haikou contributed to this story.

(China Daily USA 06/21/2013 page4)