Three teenagers who traveled to California from China to attend high school agreed Thursday to prison time after they were charged with kidnapping and assaulting a classmate, The Los Angeles Times reported.
The teens were among a growing number of so-called "parachute kids" leaving their families in China to avoid its tough college entrance exams and to assimilate in the United States.
Prosecutors say Xinlei "John" Zhang, Yunyao "Helen" Zhai and Yuhan "Coco" Yang, all 19, abducted their classmate and forced her to wipe food and cigarette butts from the floor of a Rowland Heights ice cream parlor with her hands. The girl, who was 18 at the time, said the group also stripped her naked in a park, kicked her and burned her with cigarettes, the Times adds.
The three suspects agreed to plead no contest to kidnapping and assault charges in exchange for prison sentences ranging from 6-13 years, according to the newspaper.
A sentencing hearing is scheduled for February. The Times reports a 20-year-old man was also arrested on similar charges.
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