Accessories to crimes also bear responsibility

Accessories to crimes also bear responsibility

Wang Zhenhua, chairman of Shanghai-based realty developer Seazen, which is listed in both Shanghai and Hong Kong, was detained by the Shanghai police on suspicion of molesting a 9-year-old girl, while a 49-year-old woman surnamed Zhou was detained, too, for possibly assisting him. China Daily writer Zhang Zhouxiang comments:

Some media outlets report that Wang might face criminal charges, although some lawyers predict that he might have to spend fewer than five years in prison if he is convicted of that crime.

Considering the reports that the 9-year-old victim girl had lacerations on her vagina, the criminal charge Wang faces might be rape instead of molesting a minor, which means his imprisonment term might be higher than 10 years.

However, although the police are holding him under suspicion of molesting the child, that is not a court verdict. It remains for a court to judge whether he is guilty of any charges.

Should a court convict him, he will be punished. If he is, there is another suspect in the case who should also receive a prison sentence, namely the woman who was detained with him.

Should Wang be convicted, Zhou will probably be found guilty too. But she will probably receive a lighter penalty than Wang as she is being detained as an accessory.

But according to reports, she is a "friend" of the girl's mother, and she tricked her and the mother of another girl into letting her take the two girls from Jiangsu province to neighboring Shanghai municipality "to play".

Zhou even lied that she would take the two girls to Disneyland. But they never reached there, and their journey ended in the hotel where police say she delivered them to Wang.

According to reports, Zhou was given 10,000 yuan ($1,455) for the deal, which if true begs the questions: Has Zhou committed such deeds before? Is she an old hand at this? Is she part of a gang? Does she have other "customers", if so, who are they?

All these questions need an answer. Anyone who sexually assaults a minor should be subject to the full weight of the law, but those who knowingly and voluntarily participate in the commission of the crime should not escape their deserved penalties.