Vietnamese teacher accused of raping, blackmailing student

Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa
Published: Thursday September 28, 2006

Hanoi- Police in southern Vietnam arrested a former high school teacher on accusations that he raped a 19-year-old student, authorities said Thursday. Le Thai Binh, 46, a former literature teacher in Can Tho province, 1,870 kilometres south of Hanoi, was taken into custody Wednesday.

"He will be detained for four months for investigation," said Le Van Luong, deputy head of the Social Crime Investigation Department of Can Tho. "We have enough evidence to charge him with rape."

Police said Binh, a married father of two, lured one of his students to meet him in a secluded park last year by saying it was a school field trip, then raped her.

He later allegedly blackmailed her into having sex with him again in January by saying he had taken photographs of them the first time, Luong said.

The girl complained to the school when she said he demanded sex a third time in May. The school fired him in June, and his membership in the Communist Party was revoked.

The school reported the case to police, who arrested him after an investigation, Luong said.

© 2006 DPA - Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa