TEMPO.CO, Zhengzhou - China has executed a former Communist Party official who raped 11 underage girls, local state media reported Wednesday, June 19.
China Central Television quoted court officials, saying that Li Xingong, 44, was executed on Tuesday, June 18, after he was found guilty by the court of Yongcheng city in Henan province.
Earlier reports said that Li, the former deputy secretary of Yongcheng's Communist Party branch, was arrested in May 2012 after police found him having sex in a car with an underage girl.
The Shangqiu City People's Court gave Li the death sentence. The convicted man had his appeal rejected by the Henan Provincial Higher People's Court, and his execution was approved by China's Supreme People's Court.
Online commentators had reacted furiously to initial reports of Li's alleged crimes.
China's news agency Xinhua wrote that Li's execution was carried out at a time when China has vowed to beef up protection for juveniles following a series of sexual abuse cases involving children.
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