Immigrant Sentenced for Rape of ‘Betrothed’
A man who claimed that he paid the Long Beach family of a 10-year-old girl to ensure that she would someday become his wife received a six-year term Thursday for raping her.
Tom Yang, 33, a postal clerk, was convicted of rape on Oct. 6 after a two-week trial in Superior Court. Yang lived with the girl and her family in Long Beach and said he paid $9,000 for the promise that she marry him.
The prosecutor said Yang, a Laotian immigrant, tried unsuccessfully to use differences between cultures in Laos and the United States as a defense. Yang denied raping the girl last April.
Deputy Dist. Atty. Ken Lamb said that two days after the rape, the girl’s mother took her to a physician and Yang told the doctor he was the victim’s husband and that he had had sex with her.
Although the victim recanted her accusation against Yang, Lamb presented medical evidence to establish that she had been sexually assaulted.
The victim and a 12-year-old sister are living in a foster home.
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