Lan He (C), legal advisor for Li Tianyi — the son of a Chinese general — enters court in Beijing on August 28, 2013/AFP
BEIJING August 30- Four of the accused at the gang rape trial involving the son of a Chinese general have pleaded guilty, state media reported Friday, in a case that sparked widespread public outrage.
The father of Li Tianyi, 17, holds a rank equivalent to a general as dean of the music department for the Chinese army’s Academy of Arts while his mother is a prominent singer.
The case is the latest allegation against the privileged children of officials to provoke anger.
Four of the five accused pleaded guilty at the Haidian district court, the official Xinhua news agency reported Friday after the two day trial ended on Thursday.
It did not make clear how Li had pleaded. But during the hearings the Beijing News reported that he “did not admit to the sexual assault and did not admit to a relationship, saying he was drunk and did not know anything” about what happened.
The trial was closed to the public due to the ages of the accused.
Li’s family has previously argued the incident was a case of prostitution rather than rape, according to reports.
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