Crime & Safety

Peng Tang, Former UI Student Charged with Rape, Pleads Guilty to Lesser Charges, Likely Will be Deported to China After Serving Time

The former University of Iowa student was charged with first degree kidnapping sexual assault, which would have led to a life in prison sentence. He entered a guilty plea to a lesser charge today.


A native of China and former student of the University of Iowa who was facing first-degree kidnapping charges pleaded guilty today to lesser charges.

According to the Daily Iowan, Peng Tang, 22, entered a guilty plea today to several charges:

Peng Tang, 22, plead guilty Monday to sexual abuse in the third degree, extortion, and a separate charge of soliciting to tamper with a witness. With his plea deal he faces up to 17 years total in prison. He may face up to 10 years for the sexual abuse charge, five years for extortion, and two years for the solicitation.

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His guilty plea to sexual abuse in the third degree was an Alford plea — a plea given to a defendant when he believes he could be convicted however is not admitting to committing a crime.

Peng Tang's attorney told the Iowa City Press-Citizen that he almost certainly be deported back to China following his sentence:

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Clemens Erdahl, Peng Tang’s attorney, said there was a “100 percent likelihood (Tang) will be deported.” 

But first, Tang, 22, will serve up to 17 years in prison after reaching a plea agreement with the county attorney’s office. Tang had been facing a life sentence and was scheduled to go to trial next week for kidnapping and tampering with a witness.

In late March of 2011, Tang was arrested and 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.comwith 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.

Later charges filed against Tang included burglarizing his old residence before the alleged assault -- stealing a laptop and women's underwear -- and after he was in jail attempting to convince the female victim in the case to change her story.

The case was also muddied after Tang claimed to not understand the concept of Miranda Rights, due to there being no Chinese equivalent, and a witness tampering case against his parents being dropped by the Johnson County Attorney due to "cultural differences."

Hayley Bruce of the Gazette reports that so there would be no further confusion, Monday's proceedings took place almost entirely in Chinese:

The entire hearing Monday afternoon took place in Tang’s native language, with the assistance of an interpreter. During the hearing, Sixth District Judge Ian Thornhill reviewed the possible sentences for each charge, the rights Tang would give up during his plea, and asked a series of questions to determine whether Tang was voluntarily and intelligently entering guilty pleas for each charge.


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