Sex predators mainly acquaintances of victims

GUANGZHOU - "Don't talk to strangers" may not necessarily protect young people from becoming crime victims, as most sex offenders are people they are familiar with, according to a report issued by the Guangdong Provincial Women's Federation.

The report, jointly released by the federation and the Guangdong provincial People's Procuratorate, stated that 65.7 percent of the 1,708 child sexual assault cases committed in the South China province were committed by acquaintances of the victims.

The perpetrators included neighbors, relatives, teachers, friends or colleagues of the children's parents, according to the report.

A total of 2,267 crimes were committed against 2,506 girls under the age of 18 between 2008 and 2011 in Guangdong, with 1,708 sexual assaults accounting for 75.3 percent, the report said.

The report was based on a joint survey conducted by the provincial federation and procuratorate in the city of Maoming and Shenzhen, cities that have large numbers of children from families of migrant workers.

In Maoming, the children of migrant workers accounted for 94 percent of underage female sexual assault victims, while in Shenzhen's Bao'an district, migrant children accounted for 88 percent of the total, the report said.