Court to retry official for child rape

KUNMING - A Chinese court on December 3 will retry a high-profile case of a former county official sentenced to five years in jail for the rape of a four-year-old girl, said the victim's lawyer.

Rapist Guo Yuchi, an former official of Daguan county, Southwest China's Yunnan province, will stand trial again in the county court, following public outcry over the "lenient" punishment handed down in late September.

The Intermediate People's Court in Zhaotong city, a higher court than the county court, ordered the latter to retry the case on October 17, two days after prosecutors appealed against the ruling, saying the sentence was "clearly inappropriate".

The controversial verdict also rejected the demand from the girl's family to be compensated. However, Guo agreed to pay the family 150,000 yuan ($24,615) in compensation in late October, said Chen Weibiao, the girl's lawyer.

Chen said Guo should be given a longer jail term, citing a new guideline on tougher penalties for public servants involved in sexual offenses against minors.

The guideline, jointly announced by the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Justice on Oct 24, came after a spate of recent sexual assaults on children committed by government employees and teachers.