Evidence shortage in underage sex assault cases

Several minors in Dongping county, East China's Shandong province claimed to have been sexually assaulted by local drug addicts, The Beijing News reported on Monday.

One of the alleged victims, a 14-year-old girl named Qingqing (pseudonym), claimed to have been assaulted by three men, Huang Peng, Huang Dewu and Lu Daogang, at a hotel on December 23, 2013.

Apart from Qingqing, three other minors also claimed to have been forced into sexual acts by the same group of men.

The men claimed that the sex was consensual, and admitted to sexual relations with local girls between the ages of 11 and 15, according to the police.

"It is an open secret that many teenage girls were sexually assaulted [locally]," an employee from the hotel told The Beijing News.

The men allegedly looked for new girls via online chat programs, and picked them at the front gates of their schools.

Some victims' family refused to call the police after the assault, saying that public exposure might ruin their children's reputation and future marriage prospects.

Sexual education is frequently under-taught in schools in rural areas of China.

Police earlier declared four suspects not guilty, since no evidence of compulsion could be found and the girl they had sex with was well above the age of 14, China's age of consent.

Local police have claimed that several of the alleged victims did not preserve any evidence of the assault, which made the investigation more difficult, despite the confessions on the part of the alleged assailants.

"For victims under 14, any genital contact constitutes a crime of rape. [Under such circumstances], victims and their families can press charges," said a lawyer surnamed Chen at Beijing Xinyuan Law Firm.