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September 18, 2020

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Lawyer caught in sex row deported

BAO YUMING, a Chinese-American lawyer, was cleared of child rape allegations, but has been disbarred and will be deported from China for violating law practice regulations, police in Yantai, a city in Shandong Province, announced yesterday.

Bao hit the headlines in April this year after a woman identified as Han, who claimed to be his adopted daughter, accused him of sexually abusing her from the age of 14.

Her story became a widely discussed topic online and in the media and unleashed a wave of anger among the public. Bao stepped down as a non-executive-director at Chinese telecommunications company ZTE.

A team set up by the Supreme People’s Procuratorate and the Ministry of Public Security to investigate the case said yesterday there was no evidence of rape and that the alleged victim was an adult when she had sex with Bao.

But police said Bao will be deported as he had seriously violated Chinese regulations during his stay in China and the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Justice had revoked his certificate to practice. Bao had concealed his American citizenship in 2006 and had continued to practice as a full-time lawyer after losing his Chinese citizenship, which is illegal.

According to the investigation, between April 2014 and February 2015, Bao made several postings online seeking to “adopt” a child. Meanwhile, Han, who was born in October 1997, also sought “adoption” via messaging app QQ in a bid to improve her life.

In March 2015, Han and her father applied to change her birthdate to August 2001 with a fake birth certificate and false testimony by witnesses.

After Han saw Bao’s posts, she contacted him and he went to Nanjing to meet her and her mother on October 10, 2015.

Bao and Han began a romantic relationship under the guise of “adoption” and it later turned into a sexual one.

They broke up in June 2019 after more than 150 days of living together, during which they had argued several times. The team didn’t find any evidence to show that Bao had forced Han to have sex with him. They also found that Han was an adult when the two met.

Han’s statements that she was forced to have sex didn’t tally with the facts, the team said.

Its investigation found that Han have reported to police several times accusing Bao of raping her when they had conflicts in their relationship. She would later withdrew all the accusations after she made up with Bao.

During their relationship, Han had full freedom to act and keep in normal touch with her family and friends. There was no sign that her personal freedom had been limited and that she could not contact others, the team said.

It also didn’t find any evidence that Han was brainwashed by Bao into sleeping with him. Han had also contacted other men and had relationships with them.

After taking all these things into consideration, the team decided there was no evidence to convict Bao of rape.

The procuratorate also said Han was not formally adopted by Bao and he did not know Han’s true age during their four-year relationship.

But he did think Han was a minor, amounting to a “violation of social ethics and public morals, meriting condemnation from society,” the procuratorate said.

The team said local police had responded to each of Han’s reports in this case.

But it criticized a few officers for their poor attitude in dealing with her calls.

Han’s hometown, Taihe County in Anhui Province, has punished 12 people who had direct or indirect liability in changing her birthdate.




 

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