A BABYSITTER SURNAMED HE, working for a family in Chongqing, took the 1-year-old she was employed to care for to her poverty-stricken rural home in Nanchong, Sichuan province, without telling the parents－the child's real mother was a doctor and the father a military officer－26 years ago. The woman brought up the boy as her own son, but finally regretted her action and surrendered herself to the police last year. The boy's real mother surnamed Zhu was found on Feb 6. Southern Metropolis Daily comments:

What makes the case complicated is that Zhu supposedly found her "son" with the help of police in Henan province three years after he was abducted, with DNA test results provided by the police "proving" the boy was Zhu's son.
Zhu took the boy home, believing he was her son, even though, as later transpired, that proved not to be the case.

Many question whether the babysitter's wrongdoing 26 years ago means the statute of limitations on her crime has expired, which, if so, will naturally exempt her from any punishment. But the answer is certainly no.

According to the Criminal Law, the statute of limitation for abducting a child is 10 years, but that is from when the criminal act is brought to an end. The babysitter's suspected criminal activity, which started from the moment she snatched Zhu's son in 1992, did not end until she confessed what she had done to the police last year.

She treated the boy well after kidnapping him, and Zhu forgave her because of that, only feeling sorry for the abducted son, who is now a migrant worker, believing he would have had a better education and life if raised by his natural parents. The babysitter also took the initiative to eventually report what she had done to the police. These can all be considered by the judicial authorities when deciding her punishment.

However, lawmakers in China should make the penalty for child abduction heavier in order to deter others from committing such crimes.