Crime & Safety

Charges Against Peng Tang's Parents Dropped, County Attorney Cites 'Cultural Differences'

Johnson County Attorney Janett Lyness issued the written statement in a release on Wednesday.


The parents of alleged rapist Peng Tang are no longer being charged with witness tampering.

In a written statement released Wednesday, Johnson County Attorney Janet Lyness dismissed charges of witness tampering against Tang's parents: Xeufan Tang, 57, his father, and Li Qiao, 49, his mother.

The parents had been charged with an aggravated misdemeanor for witness tampering after it was discovered that they allegedly tried to get a third party to get the woman who accused their son of sexual assault to , potentially suggesting that they could pay money to solve the problem. Peng Tang, 21, was also for attempting to contact the woman as well.

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Lyness wrote in the statement that "cultural differences" likely resulted in the parents doing something illegal without their intent.

This Daily Iowan interview with a professor familiar with Chinese culture sheds some light on what is meant by cultural differences.

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Wenfang Tang researches public opinion and political change in contemporary China. He said the distinction between what is illegal and what is legal is not well understood in China, which could adversely affect Chinese natives' ability to understand the American legal system.

For example, Xuefan Tang and Qiao's lack of understanding for legal procedure may have caused their attempt to contact the victim to be seen as bribery, he noted, when the parents may have only wanted to settle out of court with a plea bargain — which can be perfectly legal in the United States, he said.

Also, a Gazette article by reporter Vanessa Miller from yesterday suggests that although Tang's parents could have mentioned a bribe, they likely did not have the money to back it up.

Court documents made available for public review Tuesday, however, indicate the couple has had no income “for quite some time.” Xuefan Tang states in his application for a court-appointed attorney that he does not have a job because the company he worked for went bankrupt.

He reports he has no income and that his wife also has no job and no income.

Peng Tang is a woman who reportedly thought she was showing him an apartment for a sublease agreement. He is being held in the Johnson County Jail on $800,000 bond.


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