Piano teacher found guilty
of molesting young student

Bay City News Service

March 10, 2006

It took nearly an hour today for a San Mateo County court clerk to read back the verdicts in the trial of a piano teacher accused of molesting one of his young students.

After deliberating for about 12 hours, the five-man, seven-woman jury found Fremont resident Boping Chen, 54, guilty of 63 counts of committing lewd acts upon a minor under the age of 14. The crimes took place between March 2001 and August 2004, the San Mateo County district attorney's office reported.

Chen, who was dressed in a navy blue suit today, appeared emotionless throughout the court proceedings as he listened intently with his hands folded in front of his body. His wife, who sat in the front row, began to weep immediately after the first verdict was announced.

"She's taking it very hard, as you can understand,'' Chen's attorney Alan Dressler said. "Although I respect the jury's verdict, I disagree with it.''

Chen, who moved to the United States from Shanghai in 2000, taught piano to the girl for three years, beginning when she was 8. During that time period, Chen said, he was teaching about 30 students.

Chen went to the girl's Menlo Park home once a week for the piano lessons, and, about a month after the lessons began in 2001, he began fondling the girl under her clothing.

"This is not a girl who lies or makes up stories. She is an honest person,'' prosecutor Melissa McKowan said during closing arguments. "She was being molested. She was being lewdly, cruelly and repeatedly touched. She didn't know what to say. She didn't know what to do.''

Dressler argued that the young girl made up the story to get out of having to take piano lessons. However, several jurors said that the girl's compelling testimony and the rest of the evidence led them to convict Chen.

"We talked about it. We listed all the possible reasons for us not to believe Jane Doe and none of them seemed reasonable,'' juror Chris Mindnich said.

Neither the girl nor her parents, who also testified at the trial, were present in Judge Stephen Hall's courtroom today.

Chen, who had been out of custody on a $1 million property bond, was immediately taken into custody following the reading of the verdicts.

He faces more than 100 years in prison when he is sentenced on May 5 at 8:45 a.m.

Copyright © 2006 by Bay City News, Inc. -- Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.

####