Teacher detained for allegedly molesting students

CHANGSHA/SHENZHEN - Police have detained a primary school teacher for allegedly molesting female students in Jiahe county, in central China's Hunan province, the local government told Xinhua on Tuesday.

Twelve girls, all second graders at the Puman Central Primary School, have told police that their math teacher, Zeng Xingming, sexually assaulted them, according to an official with the county government's publicity office, who gave his surname as Yin.

"So far, Zeng has confessed to molesting five girls, and the investigation will carry on," he said.

Lei Guangmin has been suspended as the school's headmaster, said Yin.

A second grader's father called his daughter's head teacher on May 21, accusing Zeng of committing indecent acts against the girl. The head teacher later received other similar reports.

"Zeng was immediately asked to accept a suspension. The school apologized to the victims and their families, and other teachers were sent to comfort the girls," said Yin.

Local education authorities have launched ethics training courses for all teachers.

Police in the southern city of Shenzhen also detained a primary school teacher on the same grounds on Monday evening in Shenzhen's Nanshan District.

The 42-year-old suspect, surnamed Wu, was a second-grade teacher at the Hongji Primary School in the district, according to the police.

Wu pleaded guilty to molesting female pupils since last August, the Nanshan district public security bureau said.

He has been sacked by the school and his teaching qualification has also been revoked, according to a sources with the local education department.

The sources did not reveal the number of the victims but said they were receiving psychological intervention. Further investigation is under way.

Previously, a primary school headmaster and a government employee in Wanning city, Hainan province, were detained by police on May 14 for allegedly sexually assaulting six female students.