Picture from Francis Less' blog

Shameful allegations have arisen where female orphans of a Chinese institution were repeatedly sexually molested and raped.

Police in southwestern China's Yunnan Province are investigating after it is reported that a Hong Kong founder of a local orphanage, Francis Lee, had been abusing the girls.

The police inquiry started as early as July after Cen Danfeng, a sponsor of the Ren'ai Home for Children in Yunnan's Menghai County, reported to local officers that Lee, chairman of the Give and Take Association of Hong Kong and founder of the home, allegedly induced girls to have sex with him by offering money, valuables or both.

Yue Dianyong, secretary of the Political and Legislative Affairs Committee of Menghai's Public Security Bureau, yesterday confirmed the allegations and inquiry in a phone interview with Shanghai Daily. The orphanage was closed on August 25 after it failed to meet national requirements, Yue said.

Police believed Lee, thought to have fled to Hong Kong, installed cameras in three areas of the orphanage to spy on the girls while they were changing clothes or bathing, the local Spring City Evening News reported yesterday.

Lee, who has sponsored 899 children, allegedly seduced the girls with money and cell-phone gifts and sneaked into dormitories late at night to sexually molest them.

Some became pregnant, the report cited Cen as saying.

Cen, who has donated 100,000 yuan (US$14,622) to the orphanage, said she sensed "unusual things" when she visited the institution on May 28, the report said.

According to the newspaper, she found two girls had "a very close relationship" with Lee and the trio frequently went out for meals together.

During her stay at the orphanage, some girls told Cen they didn't want to live in the orphanage but hoped she could send them to schools.

Cen asked the girls to write down their schooling requests for her. Instead, Cen received six reports alleging sexual assaults by Lee.

(Shanghai Daily September 19, 2008)