Latest News:  

English>>China Society

Thieves indicted for using kids to steal

By Jiang Yabin (Global Times)

08:34, June 17, 2013

Qingpu district prosecutors have issued indictments in four cases involving suspects who had escaped punishment by taking advantage of allowances in the law for children and pregnant women, local media reported Sunday.

In one case, three adults used a 10-year-old girl to steal money from a clothing shop in Huinan county in Pudong New Area on December 31, 2011, according to a report in the Shanghai Evening Post. Two of the adults distracted the shop assistant while the girl grabbed 2,400 yuan ($391) from the cash register.

The girl was an experienced thief. Whenever she got caught, one of the adults would claim to be her father and beg to excuse the girl's behavior, usually by saying she was just a child and didn't know what she was doing. According to China's Criminal Law, children under 14 years old are not punished for criminal acts.

In another case, a parent employed her own child to steal. The mother, Chen Lanlan, 28, came to Shanghai in March with her 5-year-old daughter, but was unable to find a job. On April 7, she spotted a bag containing 25,000 yuan in cash and 17,350 yuan worth of mobile phone recharge cards at a shop in Qingpu district and told her daughter to steal it. Chen later said that she knew no one would punish such a young girl if she got caught.

This time, however, the bag's owner caught the girl and called the police.

The suspects in the cases, as well as a third, came from the same county in Hunan Province, said Zhou Feng, a press officer for the Qingpu District Prosecutor's Office.

Chinese law also makes allowances for pregnant women. In less serious theft cases, pregnant offenders usually will not have to serve time in prison, said Wu Ji, a lawyer for the Shanghai Hengye Law Firm.

One of the suspects in the fourth case, Qian Hong, committed 25 thefts with an accomplice from 2006 to 2012, usually when one of them was pregnant, prosecutors said. Qian has two sons and a daughter.

Qian got caught on February 11, when she and her accomplice, surnamed Yang, attempted to steal electric bicycles. Although she should have been detained for 15 days, Qian escaped without punishment because she was pregnant.

The pair had stolen a total of eight bicycles on four past occasions, always when one of them was pregnant. On March 4, she was caught again trying to steal an electric bicycle while holding her 10-month-old daughter.

Under China's Criminal Law, thieves can face longer prison sentences if they involve children in the crime.

We Recommend:

Where's the bottom line of eye catching shows?

2,000 cheongsam fans put on a show in Shanghai

Dramatic dream in little theater

China's weekly story (2013.5.24-5.31)

Bodyguard trainees experience 'Hell Week'

47 dead, 34 injured in SE China bus fire

Photos story: Mask girl's hard life

70-year-old son's love for 96-year-old mother

Massive fire kills scores at poultry plant in NE China

Email|Print|Comments(Editor:WangLili、Gao Yinan)

Leave your comment0 comments

  1. Name

  

Selections for you


  1. A letter to China's first space teacher

  2. Run-up to Paris Air Show

  3. Hassan Rouhani wins Iran's presidential election

  4. 50-kilogram watermelon

  5. Touching moments of fathers with kids

  6. China Railway to push freight transport services

  7. 16th Shanghai Int'l Film Festival kicks off

  8. Intangible Cultural Heritage Festival

  9. 1st direct int'l airline to Europe from NW China

  10. 24th China Harbin Int'l Economic & Trade Fair

Most Popular

Opinions

  1. British economy faces a "tentative upbeat"
  2. Misjudgments must be avoided
  3. Whistleblower welcome in China
  4. Chinese brands in global marketplace set to grow
  5. Surveillance programs reveal U.S. hypocrisy
  6. People's Daily urges safety after deadly accidents
  7. Equities slump amid slow-growth estimates
  8. World owes Snowden debt of gratitude
  9. Male teachers needed at Chinese kindergartens
  10. Hard times for air pollution

What’s happening in China

Developer razes historic Guangzhou structures

  1. Enteric virus sickens over 100 C China students
  2. S China official jailed over child molestation
  3. 1 dead in NE China construction site accident
  4. Beijing set to rein dangerous dogs
  5. Quest for 2nd child exposes couple’s private life