A 49-year-old Zhao Zhiyong, Chinese businessman was executed in the central Chinese province of Henan, on Tuesday, for the rape of 25 minors – including 14 under the age of 14 – over a two-year period.
His execution was the latest development in a case involving more than 30 victims – all minors – from four middle schools in Weishi county.
The court found that the former chairman of Tianyuan Flour Products coerced a woman, named Li Na, into finding young girls for him between June 2015 and January 2017.
Some of the victims in turn went on to recruit more girls for Zhao. The case came to public attention in April 2017, when a police brief, which gave sketchy details of the offences, was leaked online.
Li received a suspended death sentence and her husband, Liu Hongyang – who chauffeured the young girls for prostitution and raped some of them – was sentenced to 18 years imprisonment.
Another man, Zhou Hexin, who also had sex with some of the girls, was sentenced to 12 years in prison.
