She Was 13, Alone in a Hotel Room at 2 A.M. The Men Said They Didn’t Know

At noon on March 30, 2024, 20-year-old Gong added 13-year-old Wan as a friend.

They chatted. Then Gong invited her to a hotel. Wan said yes. She asked her cousin to come. On the way out, she ran into a friend. The three of them went to the hotel. Gong’s friend, 18-year-old Hua, was walking to the entrance at the same time. They went inside and met Gong and another friend, Yang.

Around 11 p.m., six people started playing cards and drinking. By 2 a.m., Wan’s cousin and friend had left.

Four people stayed. Two beds. Gong and Yang in one. Hua and Wan in the other.

A 13-year-old in her first year of junior high. A hotel room. Three men. Her cousin gone. Her friend gone.

Hua moved closer to Wan. He had sex with her under the quilt. Gong was awake in the next bed. He listened. Hua finished and went to the bathroom. Gong followed him in and said he wanted to try. Hua came out and lay down where Gong had been. Gong lay down next to Wan.

Wan said her body ached. She said she had no strength to resist. Gong had sex with her.

Afterward, Wan was angry. She wanted to leave. Gong grabbed her iPhone. She asked for it again and again. He refused. She left.

Gong woke Hua and Yang. The three went out to look for her. They did not find her. They went back to the hotel. Gong said he had no money. His phone was pawned. He said they should sell Wan’s phone and get his back. That morning, the three flashed her phone and sold it for 5,300 yuan.

Wan contacted Gong through Hua and asked for the phone. It was gone. She called the police.

Wan said one thing: “Two of you together. Do you think that’s appropriate?”

She is 13. She knew it was not appropriate. The two men around 20 said they did not.

The phone was flashed. It sold for 5,300 yuan. An iPhone. She got nothing.

After they were arrested, Hua said he touched Wan first. He said she did not make a sound. He said he took off his clothes and then tried to take off hers. He said she told him she would do it herself. He said it was voluntary. He also said he heard her mention a middle school while they drank, but he did not think about her age. He said he did not know she was a minor.

Gong said Wan came because he invited her. He said he wanted sex when he invited her. He said he heard her say she was in the first year of junior high. He said he thought she was about 16. He said he did not think about it. He also said Wan did not resist during sex, but she said, “That’s enough.” He said that meant she did not want to continue.

Yang said he did not know if she was voluntary. He said that after Gong finished, she seemed very angry. He said she spoke loudly.

They said they did not know how old she was. She was a girl in the first year of junior high. They said they thought she was 16. They did not think when they touched her and took off her clothes. They remembered when the police caught them.

The law is clear.

Article 236 of the Criminal Law says anyone who rapes a girl under 14 is guilty of rape and gets a heavier punishment. Wan was 13. She could not legally consent to sex. It does not matter if she resisted. It does not matter if she said no. It does not matter if she seemed willing. The law does not recognize a 13-year-old’s consent to sex.

The law says this because minors are not mature enough physically or mentally. They do not understand the nature and consequences of sex. Some “consent” is not consent. Some “no resistance” comes from fear, pain, and having no strength to fight.

Wan said her body ached and she had no strength to resist. That sentence is the clearest record of that morning.

The two men said they did not know she was a minor and thought she was 16. That defense does not work.

The Opinions on Lawfully Punishing Crimes of Sexual Assault Against Minors say this: for a victim who is 12 or older but under 14, if the person’s body, speech, clothes, daily routine, and other signs make it possible that she is a young girl, and the person rapes or sexually assaults her, the person should be found to have known she was a young girl.

Wan was in the first year of junior high. While they drank and talked, she said she studied at a middle school and was in the first year. A girl in the first year of junior high is usually 12 or 13. That is common knowledge. A 13-year-old’s speech, appearance, and daily routine usually make it clear that she may be under 14. The two men did not check her age. They did not ask. They did not confirm. They did not stop. After they heard “first year of junior high,” they kept drinking. They kept lying in the same bed. They kept going.

The claim that they thought she was 16 is an excuse they remembered after the police caught them.

Article 236, Paragraph 3, Item 4 of the Criminal Law says that when two or more people rape in turn, the punishment is at least 10 years in prison, life in prison, or death.

Hua and Gong raped the same young girl one after the other in a short time. That fits the aggravating circumstance of two or more people taking turns. The victim was under 14. The law requires a heavier punishment. A young girl’s consent has no legal force. Even if Wan did not resist, even if she said she would do it herself, the two still committed rape. Gang rape of a young girl is a serious crime.

Gong grabbed Wan’s phone, flashed it, and sold it for 5,300 yuan. That is a relatively large amount. It meets the elements of snatch theft under Article 267. Hua knew Gong had taken the phone from Wan. He still helped flash it and sell it. That meets the elements of concealing or disguising criminal proceeds under Article 312. Under Article 69, when a person commits several crimes at the same time, the court imposes combined punishment.

At first instance, the court sentenced Gong to 7 years and 5 months for rape, and 4 months of criminal detention plus a 2,000 yuan fine for snatch theft. Combined punishment for several crimes: 7 years and 5 months in prison. The court sentenced Hua to 4 years and 8 months for rape, and 2 months of criminal detention plus a 2,000 yuan fine for concealing or disguising criminal proceeds. Combined punishment for several crimes: 4 years and 8 months in prison. Yang was handled in a separate case.

The first-instance sentence is lower than the 10-year starting point for gang rape. Possible reasons include that the court did not find the gang rape aggravating circumstance, or that it found other mitigating circumstances, such as pleading guilty, accepting punishment, the role each played, or compensation. If the procuratorate thinks the sentence is too light, it can file a protest. The defendants can appeal. The final sentence depends on the effective judgment.

The cousin and friend left first.

They do not face criminal charges. They are minors. They had no legal duty to guard or protect Wan. Unless they instigated, helped, or forced Wan, they are not accomplices.

But their decision still matters. They left a 13-year-old in the first year of junior high alone in a hotel room with three adult or near-adult men. They kept drinking until 2 a.m. That decision put Wan in a place with no help. The cousin was a relative. She should have taken some care.

Parents need to know who their children go out with, where they go, and when they come back. That is not being too strict. Some places should not be left to a 13-year-old alone.

Wan contacted Gong through Hua and asked for the phone.

It was sold.

She called the police.

First-instance judgment: Gong, rape, 7 years and 5 months in prison; snatch theft, 4 months of criminal detention, 2,000 yuan fine; combined punishment, 7 years and 5 months in prison. Hua, rape, 4 years and 8 months in prison; concealing or disguising criminal proceeds, 2 months of criminal detention, 2,000 yuan fine; combined punishment, 4 years and 8 months in prison. Yang was handled in a separate case.