First case! Clergy member molests child, permanently banned from related professions

[4] Compiled from: Red Star News
 
A school’s externally hired teacher repeatedly molested a young girl and was lawfully arrested after the girl's family reported it to the police. On November 15, 2022, the Beijing Haidian Court Juvenile Tribunal held a first-instance trial on this case of child molestation and delivered a verdict in court, sentencing the defendant Wang XX for the crime of molesting a child, imposing a fixed-term imprisonment; at the same time, the defendant Wang XX is prohibited from engaging in work that involves close contact with minors.

 
 

Case review
The Haidian Court, after trial, found that the defendant Wang certain, while serving as an external instructor at a certain school in this city, took advantage of the opportunity of 'one-on-one' private tutoring to repeatedly touch the private parts of a 10-year-old girl at the school. In March 2022, after the girl’s family reported the case, Wang was arrested and taken into custody.
 
The Haidian Court believes that the defendant Wang, as a teaching assistant employed by the school, repeatedly and intentionally molested girls under the age of 14 during teaching sessions, and his actions constitute the crime of molesting children and should be punished.
 
 
《 [1] The People's Republic of China 刑法》
Article 37-1 [Prohibition of Practice]
If a person is sentenced for committing a crime by taking advantage of professional convenience, or for committing a crime that violates specific obligations required by the profession, the people's court may, depending on the circumstances of the crime and the need to prevent reoffending, prohibit the person from engaging in the relevant profession for a period of three to five years from the date of completion of the sentence or the date of parole.
A person who is prohibited from engaging in related professions and violates the decision made by the people's court in accordance with the provisions of the preceding paragraph shall be punished by the public security organs in accordance with the law; if the circumstances are serious, they shall be convicted and punished in accordance with the provisions of Article 313 of this law.
If other laws or administrative regulations have separate prohibitions or restrictions on engaging in related professions, those provisions shall apply.
 
 
《 [1] The People's Republic of China Law on the Protection of Minors
Article 62
When units that have close contact with minors recruit staff, they shall inquire with the public security authorities and the people's procuratorate whether the applicants have records of sexual assault, abuse, trafficking, violent injury, and other illegal activities; if such behavior records are found, they shall not be employed.
Units that have close contact with minors should conduct annual checks on whether their staff have the above-mentioned criminal records. If it is discovered through checks or other means that their staff have such behavior, they should be dismissed promptly.
 
 
Opinions on Implementing the Employment Prohibition System
3. If faculty and staff commit crimes such as sexual assault, abuse, trafficking, or violent injury, the people's court shall, in accordance with the provisions of Article 62 of the Law on the Protection of Minors, rule to prohibit them from engaging in work involving close contact with minors.
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[1] The author's perspective
This case is the first criminal case in China in which a teaching staff member who sexually assaulted a minor was legally declared to be permanently prohibited from engaging in work involving close contact with minors. Not long ago, China issued the "Opinions on Implementing the Employment Prohibition System," which clearly stipulates that teaching staff who sexually assault minors are permanently prohibited from engaging in work involving close contact with minors. The judgment in this case fully reflects this principle. It not only allows the defendant to clearly understand the scope of the employment ban, serving as a warning to this type of individual, but also forms a "firewall" for minors, preventing these malicious individuals from returning to the world of children and causing them harm. Such a landmark case not only plays a supervisory and warning role at the social level, helps close potential loopholes, and further strengthens social management, but also protects the healthy growth of minors and purifies the campus environment.