Jiangxi teacher abused at least eight girls, parents say
Families disclose another potential victim at Jiangxi primary school as they recount officials' efforts to get them to drop their case
The parents disclosed the new details as they discussed their difficulties petitioning for justice. Tao Biaogong confessed last month to molesting seven girls, aged eight and nine, at Shangyuan Primary School under Ruichang city, according to local police.
The case came to light only after one of the victims visited her parents, both migrant workers, during the summer break. The mother found that her daughter's genitals were covered with red and white bumps that were later confirmed to be highly contagious warts that contained a strain of human papillomavirus. The discovery led to the revelation that five other girls in the same class were suffering similar symptoms.
A seventh victim changed schools this year, and one parent said the girls had talked to each other about what had happened.
"The girls said there were at least eight of them, as they often whispered their secrets to each other. They said the seventh girl switched schools and the eighth one emerged recently to seek treatment after Tao was arrested," said Wen Xuegan , 30, one of the fathers. "Her condition was not as severe as the others, so she was in hospital for just a week."
The sexual abuse of the girls began in Primary One and lasted until the end of their Primary Two school term. The girls are all "left-behind children" who live with their grandparents while their parents seek better-paying jobs in prosperous coastal cities.