In March 2015, two incidents of bullying and assaults occurred in

Rowland Heights, California Rowland Heights is an Unincorporated area#United States, unincorporated community and census designated place (CDP) in and below the Puente Hills in the San Gabriel Valley, in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 48, ...

, with Chinese nationals as the perpetrators and victims."

Details

On March 28, 2015, two Chinese nationals assaulted a 16-year-old girl at a restaurant and a park in Rowland Heights. On March 30, 2015, another incident began at the Honeymee, an ice cream parlor located in Yes Plaza on Colima and Fullerton Roads.Chang, Cindy and Frank Shyong.
Teens' attack on Chinese girl draws comparison to 'Lord of the Flies' from judge

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Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

''. July 2, 2005. Retrieved on February 18, 2016. The victim in this case was an 18-year-old girl. The perpetrators forced her to clean up ice cream smears and cigarette butts with her hand before taking her to Rowland Heights Park, located on Banida Avenue, where she was stripped of her clothing, slapped, burned with cigarettes, beaten, and forced to eat her own hair, which her assailants cut from her head. The attack lasted for over five hours.

Perpetrators and victims

The adult perpetrators of the March 30 incident were Yuhan "Coco" Yang (杨玉涵 ''Yáng Yùhán''), Xinlei "John" Zhang (章鑫磊 ''Zhāng Xīnlěi''), and Yunyao “Helen” Zhai (翟芸瑶 ''Zhái Yúnyáo'').華留學生施暴案三犯出庭拒認罪

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Sing Tao Daily The ''Sing Tao Daily'' (also known as ''Sing Tao Jih Pao''; ) is among Hong Kong's oldest Chinese language newspapers. It is owned by Sing Tao News Corporation, of which Kwok Ying-shing () is chairman. Its English-language sister is the free ...

''. Retrieved on February 18, 2016. This article includes the Chinese names of the perpetrators. The other three perpetrators of that incident were minors.Niu, Yue.
Chinese students on trial in alleged torture of peer

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China Daily ''China Daily'' ( zh, s=中国日报, p=Zhōngguó Rìbào) is an English-language daily newspaper owned by the Central Propaganda Department of the Chinese Communist Party. Overview ''China Daily'' has the widest print circulation of any ...

''. June 15, 2015. page 2. Retrieved on February 18, 2016. Zhai and Zhang also participated in the March 28 incident. The victims and the perpetrators were "parachute kids", high school students from overseas who study in the United States without their parents and/or grandparents present. For this reason, California Judge Thomas C. Falls compared this incident to the events in the book ''

Lord of the Flies ''Lord of the Flies'' is the 1954 debut novel of British author William Golding. The plot concerns a group of prepubescent British boys who are stranded on an uninhabited island and their disastrous attempts to govern themselves that led to ...

'', which told the story of unsupervised minors. The victim of the March 30 incident, as well as the three adult perpetrators,Niu, Yue.
3 enter not-guilty pleas in student-torture case

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''. June 22, 2015. Retrieved on February 18, 2016. attended the Oxford School, a private school with many international students. As of February 2016, John Zhang's father lived in

Shenzhen Shenzhen is a prefecture-level city in the province of Guangdong, China. A Special economic zones of China, special economic zone, it is located on the east bank of the Pearl River (China), Pearl River estuary on the central coast of Guangdong ...

Trials and convictions

The adult perpetrators were arrested on March 31, 2015, after the victims contacted law enforcement. The suspects each had a bail of $3 million. The father of one suspect was arrested after he was accused of attempting to pay off a witness. The perpetrators were initially charged with torture and kidnapping. In California, being convicted of torture could result in a life sentence.Gonzales, Ruby.
Trio faces sentencing in Rowland Heights torture case

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''. January 8, 2016. Retrieved on February 18, 2016. The three adult perpetrators initially pleaded not guilty. Ultimately the three took plea deals. On Tuesday, January 5, 2016, Zhang and Zhai pleaded

no contest ''Nolo contendere'' () is a type of legal plea used in some jurisdictions in the United States. It is also referred to as a plea of no contest or no defense. It is a plea where the defendant neither admits nor disputes a charge, serving as an ...

to kidnapping and assault by great means of force likely to produce great bodily injury. Yang pleaded no contest to these charges. For each person, torture and two kidnapping counts were dismissed as part of the plea bargain. The perpetrators were ultimately sent to the California state prison system. Zhai, represented by attorney

Evan Freed Evan Phillip Freed (born September 11, 1946) is an attorney and freelance photographer who traveled with and photographed the presidential campaign of United States Senator Robert F. Kennedy. Freed was present when Sirhan Sirhan shot Kennedy. ...

, received a 13-year sentence. Yang received a 10-year sentence. Zhang received a sentence of over 6 years. Twenty-year-old Zheng Lu, who gave the other perpetrators a pair of scissors but did not directly participate in the attack, was arrested in December 2015 and received a trial separate from the other three adult perpetrators. In 2016, he was sentenced to three years in prison for his participation in the case. The juvenile suspects were sentenced to the juvenile correctional system. After the prison sentences of the perpetrators are finished, they will be deported back to China.

Incarceration

, Helen Zhai (CDCR #WF4268) and Coco Yang (CDCR #WF4267) are incarcerated at the

California Institution for Women California Institution for Women (CIW) is an American women's state prison located in the city of Chino, San Bernardino County, California, east of Los Angeles, although the mailing address states " Corona," which is in Riverside County, Calif ...

(CIW) in

Chino, California Chino ( ; Spanish for "Curly") is a city in the western end of San Bernardino County, California, United States, with Los Angeles County to its west and Orange County to its south in the Southern California region. Chino's surroundings ha ...

. John Zhang has been released from prison.

Legacy

Some Chinese internet users supported the punishment since many similar bullying cases in Mainland China have not resulted in criminal prosecution.Hui, Ning.
‘Thank You for Educating the Scumbags China Can’t Handle’

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Foreign Policy Foreign policy, also known as external policy, is the set of strategies and actions a State (polity), state employs in its interactions with other states, unions, and international entities. It encompasses a wide range of objectives, includ ...

''. January 27, 2016. Retrieved on February 18, 2016.

References

External links

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中国留学生施虐案被告父亲：孩子错了应该受罚

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Sina Network Sina Corporation () is a Chinese technology company. Sina operates four major business lines: Sina Weibo, Sina Mobile, Sina Online, and Sinanet. Sina has over 100 million registered users worldwide. Sina was recognized by ''Southern Weekend'' as ...

. January 23, 2016. *
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''. October 29, 2015. Rowland Heights bullying incident Crimes in Los Angeles County, California March 2015 crimes in the United States