(Yicai Global) Sept. 17 -- China's government has decided to deport Bao Yuming, a US lawyer who worked at various listed Chinese companies and stands accused of raping his underage adopted daughter, even though the results of an official investigation released today showed he was not guilty of the 'crime of sexual abuse.'

No evidence of violence, coercion or other means of forced sexual intercourse with the woman surnamed Han was found by the inquiry opened in April, China's top prosecutions authority said in a bulletin today. Then aged 18, Han was not a juvenile when she met Bao, it added. Minors are given special protection under Chinese law.

The investigation found that in March 2015, Han and her biological father applied for a change in her birth date by providing a forged birth certificate and witness statements. A look into Han's student status materials and historical archives found that she was actually born in October 1997 not in August 2018, as shown on the household registration.

The Bao mentioned in the bulletin is Bao Yuming, based on the information disclosed, though his full name was not given. He was born in 1972 and has worked as a lawyer, partner, and senior legal advisor in Beijing, Tianjin, New York, and California since 1996, and was a vice president of Jereh Oilfield Services Group in charge of legal affairs.

The Beijing Municipal Bureau of Justice revoked Bao's legal practice certificate in accordance with law as the US citizen had severely violated laws and regulations during his stay in China, according to police in the city of Yantai, Shandong province. Based on relevant laws, the Ministry of Public Security decided to deport Bao, and the local bureau will enforce the decision.

Rape Allegations

Chinese media reported in April that a girl named Han had been living with her "adopted father" Bao Yuming since 2016 and was raped multiple times over three years. Han said she was just 14 years old when the first sexual assault occurred. The report provoked public concern and the police opened a probe.

As a result, Jereh Oilfield Services canceled the labor contract with Bao, and the lawyer resigned from ZTE, a leading Chinese technology company.

According to the findings released in today's report, Bao began associating with Han in the name of "adoption" in October 2015 and began a love affair with her. The lawyer did not know Han's real age in the course of their relationship. From a legal perspective, there was no relationship of adoption because the two did not meet the legal adoption conditions and Bao did not go through adoption formalities.

During their relationship, Han had freedom of movement and could keep in touch with her family members and friends normally, the bulletin said, with the investigation finding no restrictions on Han's personal and communication freedom by Bao.

The report pointed out that Bao should be condemned by society for serious violation of social ethics, public order and good manners by having sexual relations with a so-called minor, though his behavior cannot be deemed to constitute rape based on the evidence.

Editor: Peter Thomas