Recently, parents in Guangshan County, Xinyang City, Henan Province, exposed a shocking incident where their 15-year-old daughter was taken to a hotel by her 54-year-old homeroom teacher back in November last year for indecent behavior. The teacher involved was only administratively detained for 10 days, and the parents encountered numerous obstacles in seeking legal action. This revelation has sparked public outrage.
According to reports by Huashang Daily’s Dafeng News on April 14, Zhou Hai (pseudonym) is a resident of Guangshan County, Henan Province. In September 2025, his 15-year-old daughter Zhou Yu (pseudonym) enrolled in a high school in Guangshan County. As the school was about 10 kilometers away from their home, their daughter began living on campus after entering high school, only returning home once every two weeks, occasionally staying at school for extra lessons on weekends.
On November 8, a Saturday, Zhou Hai asked relatives to help pick up Zhou Yu. Around 10 a.m., the relatives informed him that his daughter was not at school. Upon returning home, he asked his daughter why she had left school, and she revealed that the homeroom teacher, Mr. Liu, had taken her to a hotel to book a room. He immediately took his daughter, who had just returned home, to the local police station to report the incident.
During the police inquiry, Zhou Yu mentioned that on November 6, a classmate reported her for gossiping in class to homeroom teacher Mr. Liu. In the afternoon at 5 p.m., Mr. Liu, after learning about the situation, complimented her appearance and took her to his office to inquire about her family background, stating that she should consider him as family in the future.
On November 7, Mr. Liu handed her a fake leave note, stamped with the school’s seal, stating that student Zhou Yu was absent due to illness from November 7 to November 8, with Mr. Liu’s signature.
That afternoon, Mr. Liu gave her 200 yuan to buy food and then took her to eat at a nearby steakhouse. Later, Mr. Liu said he wanted to book a room at a hotel. Upon arriving at the hotel, he closed the curtains and locked the door, attempting indecent behavior. When Zhou Yu refused, Mr. Liu left the hotel. Zhou Yu stated, “I thought he just wanted to have a meal with me, provide a place for me to stay, and then head home himself. After I refused him, he asked me not to tell my parents that he took me to the hotel.”
On November 19, a deposition by Mr. Liu to the police revealed his age as 54. The police investigation found that on the day of the incident, Mr. Liu had visited a pharmacy before the said events took place.
According to the police interview records on the scene, a guest staying at the hotel mentioned that around 6:20 p.m. on November 7, they heard a young girl crying from the room across the hall after going downstairs to fetch something.
On November 19, the Guangshan County Public Security Bureau issued an “Administrative Penalty Decision,” ruling that Mr. Liu engaged in indecent behavior toward Zhou Yu, resulting in a 10-day administrative detention.
Zhou Hai expressed that this incident had caused severe psychological harm to his daughter. A psychological assessment conducted at a hospital on December 18, 2025, indicated that Zhou Yu exhibited symptoms of severe depression, moderate anxiety, moderate hostility, severe phobias, severe paranoia, and moderate psychotic symptoms.
By the end of December, Zhou Yu transferred schools. Zhou Hai stated, “After the incident, my daughter became particularly afraid of being alone, often muttering to herself, questioning why the teacher would treat her this way when she trusted him so much. She became reserved and would inexplicably burst into tears.”
On January 28 of this year, Zhou Yu, feeling emotionally low, overdosed on amoxicillin, resulting in poisoning. Her family rushed her to the hospital for stomach pumping treatment. Zhou Hai recounted, “It was late at night when our child suddenly took the medicine at school. Luckily, a classmate noticed it in time, informed us, and we promptly sent her for medical treatment.”
“Ten days of administrative detention is too lenient. As a homeroom teacher, one should serve as a role model for students; however, engaging in such despicable acts, I hope his criminal responsibility is pursued,” Zhou Hai remarked. In mid-November last year, he filed a complaint with the Guangshan County Education Bureau but never received a formal response. “They informally notified me that Mr. Liu had been demoted.”
As the police deemed the incident not constituting a criminal case, Zhou Hai engaged a lawyer, hoping to file a criminal complaint with the court. However, as of April 14, 2026, there was no response from the court.
According to a recording, court personnel stated that the materials related to criminal cases should be transferred from the police to the procuratorate and then indicted by the procuratorate, rather than directly initiating criminal proceedings with the court as the victim.
In fact, Article 204 of the Criminal Procedure Law stipulates the scope of criminal complaints. Under this article, when a victim files a direct complaint to the court, the court should accept it according to the law.
On April 14, a reporter from Huashang Daily’s Dafeng News tried to contact the involved school principal, Mr. Shen, but to no avail. Staff at the Guangshan County Education Bureau mentioned that Mr. Liu had been demoted and reassigned to non-teaching duties at the same high school. Regarding how dissatisfied parents could file complaints, they did not provide a clear response.
According to The Paper, the parents’ applications for criminal filing, case supervision, and criminal complaints all yielded no results. Personnel from the Guangshan County Procuratorate stated they had not received any relevant materials from the parents. Attempts to contact the comprehensive business unit of the Guangshan County Procuratorate and the responsible personnel of the Guangshan County Public Security Bureau were unsuccessful as their phone lines were either unreachable or out of service.
According to Huashang Daily’s Dafeng News, Hu Lei, Director of the Property Defense Research Center at Ze Heng Law Firm in Beijing, mentioned that according to Article 237 of the Criminal Law, anyone who forces indecent acts on others through violence, coercion, or other means may face up to five years of imprisonment.
Hu Lei stipulated that the 15-year-old girl falls within the age category of minors above 14 but under 18. If it can be proven that the perpetrator, leveraging their position as a teacher, led the girl out of school to a hotel, closing curtains, locking doors, and attempting to force her onto the bed, it could potentially be deemed a crime if there is evidence of violating the victim’s will or taking advantage of the teacher’s authority and isolation.
Evidence, such as the cries heard by hotel occupants, the suspect purchasing birth control items, the girl’s testimony, and her psychological trauma, could further prove the coercive and malicious nature of the act, potentially escalating the perpetrator’s actions to attempted rape. The public security authorities can conduct additional investigations, while the procuratorate can supervise the case, ultimately turning it into a criminal matter.
Hu Lei emphasized the necessity of psychological evaluations on the victim. While not the sole basis for converting it into a criminal case, these evaluations serve as essential evidence supporting the determination of causing “serious consequences” or “other heinous circumstances.” Families can simultaneously pursue rights through criminal, civil, and administrative disciplinary channels.
This revelation has sparked public outrage.
Netizens voiced their indignation, “A 54-year-old homeroom teacher taking a 15-year-old girl to a hotel room for indecent behavior and only being detained for ten days—is this a sufficient penalty? This low punishment cost seems to embolden certain individuals’ audacity and intentions,” and “Ruining a girl’s life only requires a ten-day sentence? Is this justice?”
“The leniency of this punishment is too weak, with an incredibly low cost of committing the crime. A teacher harming an underage student and only receiving a ten-day detention utterly fails to serve as a deterrent. It’s hard to believe in the justice system,” and “Is ten days of detention even considered a punishment? Isn’t this encouraging crime?” and “Ten days? Is that it?” and “Detained for only ten days? Outrageous!”
“Is the County Public Security Bureau’s handling appropriate? Such a criminal act should lead to a public prosecution, not a victim’s family’s self-complaint,” and “Why wasn’t this a public prosecution crime after the police investigation? Shouldn’t the public security transfer the case to the procuratorate for prosecution? Why is it left to the victim’s family to file a complaint?”
“He should receive a harsher sentence and have his teaching credentials revoked,” and “Seeking justice as an ordinary person is challenging,” and “This is a criminal case, an act of crime, resulting in dismissal from public office and should be sentenced.”
“Filing for a criminal case, case supervision, and criminal complaints all led to no results. The officials at the Guangshan County Procuratorate claimed they had not received the materials,” and “After the incident, the minor’s depression worsened. The parents filed for criminal cases, case supervision, and criminal complaints, yet no progress was made. The Guangshan County Procuratorate staff’s response of not receiving the documents is concerning,” and “Did the materials mysteriously disappear? The procuratorate has them.”
“A supposed role model preying on an underage student bears no equivalence with a mere ten-day detention compared to the lifelong trauma inflicted. The family’s desperate situation without avenues for justice is chilling—when the protective mechanisms fail one after another, who will safeguard the child’s safety?”