Crime & Safety

Editor's Picks: Peng Tang, Sexual Assault and Bribing a Witness Charges. 'Cultural Differences' Muddy the Waters: Best of 2012

The first-degree kidnapping charge against Peng Tang drew a lot of interest both locally and abroad back in the spring.

 

Editor's Note: As the year winds down, Iowa City Patch is looking back at some of the stories that made you talk, cry, laugh or just scratch your head.

Updates to this Story Since it was Originally Published:

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  • Peng Tang and his parents were later accused of attempting to bribe the witness-- in this case, the accusor -- to change her story. The charge against his parents was later dropped due to what the Johnson County Attorney cited as "cultural differences." The charge against Peng Tang remains.
  • Peng Tang appeared in court October after pleading no guilty and his sexual assault trial was reset for Feb. 19, 2013, according to online court documents, with the witness bribery charge having a trial date of March 5, 2013. The Gazette reported that there is some conflict in the trial based on whether Tang understood his Miranda Rights before police questioned him. According to the Gazette, Tang testified in October via a translator that he did not hear or understand these rights before speaking with police, and that these rights have no legal equivalent in China.
  • Peng Tang still faces charges of attempting to bribe a witness, an aggravated misdemeanor, and first-degree kidnapping, a Class A felony punishable by a possible life in prison sentence. He has a combined $800,000 bond and is being held in the Muscatine County Jail according to online jail records. He also still has an immigration hold placed on him by federal immigration officials.

More Details Revealed in Search Warrant of Iowa City Rape case

 By Stephen Schmidt

Originally published on April 5, 2012

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The Iowa City man accused of sexually assaulting a woman who was showing him her apartment for rent last week found her through a website that caters to Chinese nationals, according to a search warrant filed as part of court documents at the Johnson County Courthouse.

According to the search warrant, the woman who reported to police that she had been sexually assaulted had placed her ad on zhan.renren.com with the intent of subletting her apartment. The warrant stated that the ad was directed at Chinese nationals and was written in Chinese.

The woman received a response to her ad last Thursday (March 29) and agreed to meet him that night at 8 p.m., according to the warrant. The man was identified as Peng Tang, 21, of Iowa City.

As the woman was showing the man the bedroom, he grabbed the victim by the hands and attempted to tie her up, according to the documents. Telling her he had a knife, he then forced her to perform sex acts and took photos, according to the warrant.

“You have better follow my requirements because I have a knife,” the man told the woman, according to Iowa City police criminal complaint.

Near the end of the assault, the woman told the man she had friends waiting for her at the University of Iowa Main Library, so he walked her there afterward, later warning her by text message that if she went to the police he would post the photos of the sex acts online, according to the search warrant.

The following day, after reporting the incident and receiving a sexual assault examination at the University Hospitals, the woman worked with police to convince the man to meet her at her apartment via phone, as the police waited to arrest him, according to the warrant. That afternoon, when Tang arrived, the woman was able to positively identify him, and he was arrested by police, according to the warrant.

When asked by police why he was there, Tang said he was there to visit a friend. When police asked him if he had any weapons on him he revealed he had a fruit knife in his backpack. The packpack also contained condoms and a passport, according to the warrant.

According to a story by the Gazette, a later search of Tang's apartment at 923 E. College St. revealed more:

During a search of the apartment of a 21-year-old Iowa City man accused of sexually assaulting a woman who was showing her apartment last week, officers found handcuffs, a knife, women’s bras, underwear and nylons, and an empty package of Viagra, according to court documents released Thursday.

Search warrant returns for Peng Tang’s apartment at 923 E. College St. #8 show investigators collected DNA samples from Tang along with clothing, a broken bra strap found by his trash can, a heart-shaped box of condoms and a lock-picking book with tools.

Tang allegedly later confessed to committing the crime when confronted by police. The preliminary hearing for his trial is April 9. He is accused of first-degree kidnapping, which carries with it a potential life in prison in sentence. He has also been placed on immigration hold, meaning he could be deported to his home country following the completion of his sentence.


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