Is Wang Zhenhua sentenced to 5 years for molesting children? Interpretation of four major controversies by legal experts

　　Beijing News (Reporter Wang Jun) Wang Zhenhua, the former chairman of Xincheng Holdings, who was much concerned about the child molestation case, was sentenced on June 17, and the Shanghai Putuo District People's Court sentenced Wang Zhenhua to five years in prison. On the morning of June 18, the victim’s attorney stated that he did not approve the result of the first-instance judgment and had applied to Putuo District Procuratorate for protest. Chen Youxi, one of Wang Zhenhua’s defense lawyers, issued a statement in the afternoon, saying that Wang Zhenhua had clearly filed an appeal and requested the second instance to be acquitted.

　　After the verdict in the first instance of the case, public discussion was aroused, and many voices believed that Wang Zhenhua was sentenced to a light sentence of 5 years. Due to the privacy of the victim, the case was not heard in public. The experts interviewed said that they could not make a specific judgment on the case. However, further explanation should be given to how the "minor injuries" were caused by the child.

　　Xi Peizhi, deputy secretary-general of the Shanghai Youth Crime Prevention Research Association, believes that in terms of the information disclosed, the verdict in this case is legal, but the results of the punishment and the public's psychological expectations are quite different, so it has caused social controversy.

Sentenced to 5 years, is the sentence too light?

——Causes minor injuries to become the focus

　　On July 1, last year, the 57-year-old chairman of Xincheng Holdings Wang Zhenhua, who was suspected of molesting a 9-year-old girl, was coerced by the police. On July 10 of the same year, Shanghai Putuo District Procuratorate arrested him on suspicion of child molestation. On June 17 this year, the Putuo District Court sentenced the defendant Wang Zhenhua to five years’ imprisonment for child molestation.

　　Wang Zhenhua was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment, which raised the question of “the sentencing was too light”.

　　According to Article 237 of the Criminal Law, the sentence for indecent assault is divided into two levels: fixed-term imprisonment or detention of less than five years, congregation or public obscenity in public places, or other bad circumstances, and imprisonment of more than five years. Indecent children should be punished severely according to law.

　　Wang Zhenhua was sentenced to five years of top-level sentencing. If Wang Zhenhua is sentenced to more than 5 years of fixed-term imprisonment, he must meet the requirements of “gathering in public or being in public in public places” and “having other bad circumstances”.

　　The court found out that the defendant's Wang Zhenhua's behavior had constituted child indecent crimes, but it was not a crime committed in public in a public place, nor had other bad circumstances.

　　In an interview, the presiding officer of the case stated that the defendant Wang Zhenhua carried out indecency on the victim under the age of 12 and caused serious consequences of minor injuries to the victim. He should be severely punished according to law; the defendant Wang Zhenhua refused to confess after the case and the court trial The obscene criminal facts can be punished severely as appropriate.

　　Zhao Jun, a professor at the Academy of Criminal Law Sciences of Beijing Normal University, believes that the key to the case lies in the specific location of the harm caused by the "secondary injury". How is it formed? This needs further clarification.

　　"If the result of the minor injury is caused by the perpetrator's beating when the young girl rebelled, or because of the indecent act in the criminal process, it can constitute other bad circumstances and apply a heavier statutory sentence." Zhao Jun said that in practice The situation is often more complicated. If it is negligence or accident that caused minor injuries, it is not part of the other bad plots. Of course, the premise of this argument is that there is evidence to prove that the result of the minor injury was caused by the perpetrator’s related behavior. The case was not disclosed for reasons such as the protection of minors, so no accurate judgment can be made.

What is the difference between child molestation and rape?

—— Whether there is sexual organ contact is the key to distinguish between rape and indecent crime

　　After the sentence was pronounced, there were also opinions that Wang Zhenhua should be convicted of rape rather than child molestation.

　　How to divide the crime of indecency and rape?

　　Zhao Jun told reporters that the distinction between the crime of rape and child molestation is relatively clear, that is, to see whether there is contact between sexual organs or whether this is the purpose of the behavior. Unlike rape crimes against adult women, rape crimes targeting children are established as long as there is contact between the sex organs of both parties. If the perpetrator's sexual assault is not a contact between sex organs, nor is it for this purpose, it can only constitute a child molestation.

　　The presiding officer in the case also stated that the presence of sexual organs is the key to distinguish the crime of rape (including adultery of young girls) from the crime of molesting children. In this case, the victim’s statement, judicial appraisal opinion, and the defendant’s confession all proved that the defendant Wang Zhenhua had committed indecent behavior against the victim, but there was no sexual organ contact with the victim. The relevant judicial appraisal opinion corroborates this fact. Therefore, Wang Zhenhua's behavior is obscene, not rape.

Should legislation increase the sentence for indecent assault?

——Experts recommend that the obscene child’s emphasis be refined

　　Whether the sentence for the crime of indecent assault should be increased is also the focus of this discussion.

　　Xing Hongmei, a lecturer and a doctor of law at the Law School of China Women’s University, conducted a statistical analysis of the 389 first-instance verdicts for child molestation in 2017. Among them, the minimum sentence was 3 months in prison, 72.3% of the sentences were imprisoned for less than 3 years, and 21 people were suspended. . Judgments of fixed-term imprisonment of 3 to 5 years are less applicable, and there are only 24 cases of imprisonment over 5 years, accounting for 6.2%.

　　Zhao Jun believes that for the crime of molesting a child, if there are circumstances such as bad circumstances, the sentence can be upgraded. The specific circumstances of the crime of sexual assault on minors vary greatly and need to be judged according to the provisions of the law and the specific circumstances of the case. However, the "label" of sexual assault on minors must be sentenced to a very heavy criminal law, even death penalty, this view is also not rational.

　　In addition, whether the statutory punishment for indecent crimes needs to be aggravated needs to be comprehensively considered to maintain a proper gradient with other crimes. "If the punishment for indecent assault is raised indefinitely, such as raising the statutory penalty for indecent assault to the same or similar degree as rape, then in a certain sense it is equivalent to encouraging criminals to commit more serious crimes of rape. Since sentencing Almost, the perpetrators are likely to directly commit rape or even murder."

　　Xi Peizhi believes that the current statutory punishment for the crime of indecent children in my country is relatively light, and the heavy punishment provisions need to be attached to the crime of forced indecent assault. There is a certain legislative deviation in such regulations.

　　The first paragraph of Article 237 of the Criminal Law is the crime of compulsory indecency and insult, and the second paragraph is the crime of indecency. The crime of molesting a child shall be punished severely in accordance with the provisions of the preceding paragraph. Chi Peizhi believes that the legal interests protected by the crime of indecent assault and compulsory indecent assault are completely inconsistent, so it should be more independent than the first paragraph. In order to break through the current "legal reason" dilemma. "This does not violate the principle of punishment for crimes and punishments, and the handling of cases is more scientific."

Should the scope of rape be expanded?

——"Identification of sexual crimes may not be beneficial to the victim"

　　Public reports showed that the girl had a laceration in her vagina, which constituted a minor injury. It is also the focus of public controversy that Wang Zhenhua’s behavior is defined as obscene rather than rape because of no sexual organ contact.

　　"If it is considered that the scope of the determination of the crime of rape is too narrow, it is not appropriate to expand the interpretation." Xi Peizhi said that the punishment needs to strictly follow the statutory principle of crime and punishment. The interpretation of the provisions of the criminal law must be within the semantic range.

　　Xi Peizhi told reporters that for adulterous young girls, my country uses the "contact theory" as the standard of accomplishment and determines that rape requires sexual organ contact. If this point is further explained, it is not much different from child molestation.

　　Zhao Jun believes that behind the distinction between the crime of rape and the crime of obscenity is the result of social and cultural construction, with its specific historical background and realistic conception, it is not the whim of a legal or jurist. Even in contemporary China, there is still a big difference between the concept of sexual organs and other sexual behaviors.

　　"Correspondingly, the sense of victimization and psychological harm caused by obscene behaviors such as forced sexual intercourse and forced sexual intercourse are not the same. The social stigma effect associated with the victimization is also different, and it is blind to sexual crimes. Elevation and determination may not necessarily benefit the victim."

　　"Under the influence of progressive concepts such as gender equality and sexual diversity, the relevant legislation outside the territory has a tendency to expand the extension of sexual intercourse. However, the setting of sexual crimes mainly needs to consider the local realities, and cannot be separated from the specific cultural context. The overall social concept and the change of sexual concept, so that there will be no imbalance between crime and punishment. And outside the territory, the practice of expanding the extension of sexual intercourse is not without negative effects, not without controversy, we still have to weigh carefully when drawing on." He said.