Parents of I.C. sex assault suspect claim they are indigent

IOWA CITY - The parents of an Iowa City man accused of sexually assaulting a woman who was showing her apartment for rent last month are apparently indigent and have “no income,” even though police say they flew to town after their son's arrest and offered to pay the victim to change her story.

Peng Tang, 19, along with his father, Xuefan Tang, 57, and mother, Li Qiao, 49, have been found indigent and been approved for court-appointed attorneys. The public defender's office, however, asked on Monday to withdraw as counsel for the parents due to a conflict of interest with their defense of the couple's son.

A judge granted that request and assigned alternate counsel for Xuefan Tang and Qiao.

Both parents are being held in lieu of $100,000 cash-only bonds on charges of tampering with a witness. Police said they flew to town following their son's arrest on March 30 and asked someone close to him to find the victim and pursue her to change her story.

The mother, according to police, said she would pay the woman to alter her report about what happened. Peng Tang is accused of trapping the woman in a bedroom and committing sexual assault.

Tang's father admitted to police that he and the mother asked someone to find the victim and pay her to change her story, according to a criminal complaint.

Court documents made available for public review Tuesday, however, indicate the couple has had no income “for quite some time.” Xuefan Tang states in his application for a court-appointed attorney that he does not have a job because the company he worked for went bankrupt.

He reports he has no income and that his wife also has no job and no income.

“She used to work in a commercial farm before marriage in 1990,” he reported on the application.

The husband and wife - who live outside the country, according to court documents - reported having one son, a University of Iowa student, on the application for an attorney.

Peng Tang is not listed in the UI student directory.

When asked further about total income, Xuefan Tang reports the couple “used to take in sewing jobs for friends and neighbors but none for quite some time,” according to the application. Regarding the couple's assets, Tang writes that they live in a “25 square-foot house” with two other relatives.

Regarding payments they have to make, Xuefan Tang writes that they owe friends and relatives $38,000, according to the application.

A judge approved the couple for a court-appointed attorney on April 12. Their first application for an attorney, however, was denied. The first application listed assets as $4,000 and payment obligations as $4,000.

The couple is scheduled for a preliminary hearing Monday. Their son's kidnapping case is scheduled to go to trial June 5. Peng Tang also faces a charge of solicitation to commit an aggravated misdemeanor after police said he sent a letter from jail asking a friend to get his accuser to change her story.

That case is set for a preliminary hearing on April 24.

Peng Tang is being held in the Johnson County Jail in lieu of $750,000.