Ex-adviser guilty of 20 rapes

A FORMER political adviser in Henan Province has been sentenced to death for crimes which included the rape of 20 girls over a two-year period.

Wu Tianxi, 61, former vice chairman of Zhenping County's Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, was also fined 500,000 yuan (US$68,966).

He was found guilty of the rape of the girls between the ages of 12 and 16 and of organizing and running a crime syndicate, Nanyang Intermediate People's Court ruled, the local Oriental Today reported yesterday.

In the spring of 2005, Wu asked a woman named Liu Pei to look for virgins for him as he hoped to "save his deteriorating health and wealth by having sex with virgins," the report said.

Wu, the general manager of a food company in Zhenping, was detained on April 17 last year.

He had denied the rape allegations in previous trials, saying he had only been engaged in prostitution.

Sexual intercourse with a girl under 14 is considered statutory rape in China and a criminal offense. Prostitution is a misdemeanor.