Iowa City Police: Peng Tang's Parents Accused of Attempting to Bribe Alleged Victim of Sexual Assault

Iowa City police have charged the parents of the man accused of raping a woman two weeks ago with attempting to tamper with a witness through bribery -- the witness in this case allegedly being the victim of the assault.

According to an Iowa City Police criminal complaint, Peng Tang's parents -- his mother Li Qiao, 49, and his father, Xuefan Tang, 57 -- arrived in Iowa City and began staying at Tang's apartment at 923 E. College St. on or around April 5.

It was at this time that they are accused of allegedly telling people they knew that they should find the woman who was accusing their son and to "persuade" her to change her story, with the possibility that she would be paid to do so.

According to the complaint, the woman's friends told her that this was going on and she informed police of the situation, after which the parents were arrested.

After his arrest, the elder Tang told police that he had spoke with someone about contacting the victim about her story, according to the criminal complaint.

Tampering with a witness or juror is an aggravated misdemeanor charge.

Their son, Peng Tang, is accused of and is scheduled for his charge tomorrow at 2 p.m.

Tang, 21, of Iowa City, has been charged with first-degree kidnapping, a Class A felony, for allegedly sexually assaulting a woman who had intended to show him an apartment for a potential sublet agreement, binding her hands and threatening her with a knife while forcing her to perform sex acts.