A former head teacher in Shenzhen’s Nanshan District pleaded guilty earlier this week to the sexual molestation of four female students at Hongji School, according to a report by Shenzhen Daily.

Prosecutors have requested that the head teacher, surnamed Wu, 42, be jailed for three to five years for sexually assaulting the girls “dozens of times,” though some of the parents feel such a prison term would be too light in view of Wu’s crimes, and the psychological harm it has done to the girls.

According to the court case, Wu had been molesting the female students during noon nap time since September 2012, but his crimes were only exposed in May when one of the girl’s parents went to police. He had persuaded the girls over the course of several months that what he was doing was OK because he was a teacher and “different from other people.”

Stories of child sexual abuse by teachers have been making headlines in local and national media on a regular basis in recent months, and some teachers found guilty of rape of minors have even been executed this year under China’s criminal law.

Li Feng, who was executed July, was one such example of an elementary school teacher that the state came down hard on in an example to others. Li was found guilty of raping and molesting 19 students under the age of 14 in Jilin Province.

China’s Central Government this year introduced tougher sentences for those found guilty of abusing children in an attempt to better protect the safety and rights of minors.

Photo credit: ShardsOfChina