COURT: The defendant has pleaded guilty to three counts of indecent assault on another person, contrary to section 122(1) of the Crimes Ordinance.
The defendant and the victim’s mother (“Y”) started to date each other in September 2016. The defendant soon moved in to live with Y and X together, X being the victim, the daughter of Y.
In an afternoon of April 2017, X (7 at the time) was alone in the home. The defendant asked X to go to a room. He then locked the room and touched X’s breasts on top of her clothing, similar to massaging for about 15 minutes. Afterward he told X not to mention that to anyone before unlocking the door and asking X to leave. The incident lasted for about 15 minutes.
In another afternoon in May 2018, the defendant asked X (8 at the time) once again to go to a room. He first removed all the clothing of X and instructed her to face down on a bed. The defendant then removed all his own
clothings. He then stood behind X and rubbed his penis against X’s private parts. The incident lasted for 1 to 1½ hours.
On 6 October 2021, when X was 11, the defendant this time went to her bedroom. He first touched her breasts on top of her clothing and later directly molested her breasts. The defendant thereafter inserted his finger into X’s vagina. As X felt pain and uncomfortable, she pushed the defendant away. This incident lasted for 45 minutes.
Two weeks later as X learned from her school about sexual abuse, she told her mother one evening of all the sexual abuse that the defendant had done to her in the past. The case was then reported to the police.
The defendant is 51, a Filipino national. He has two sons. Prior to this incident, he worked as an electronic engineer and made about HK$45,000 each month. The defendant also has one previous similar criminal conviction. The two indecent assaults in the earlier case concerned the defendant’s conduct on-board of a bus in which he touched the shoulder and the calf of a lady passenger.
The victim impact report described the abovementioned incidents had a profound impact on X. X experienced a sense of helplessness and she believed that she would have to cope with the trauma for the rest of her life. X also told the psychologist that those incidents kept coming back as flashbacks. She struggled with sleep and experiencing fearfulness for her to fall asleep. The report concluded by stating that it was evident that X was a victim of sexual abuse, physical punishment, and psychological maltreatment. She also had been experiencing various stress related symptoms as a result of those chronic incidents. And in essence and in plain language, X’s life has been completely ruined.
Given the defendant’s persistent behaviour on attacking females, psychiatric and psychological reports were called for. I am not going to repeat the contents of those two reports. The most striking feature coming out of these two reports was that the defendant had put all the blames onto the victim. The defendant exhibited no remorse whatsoever. The defendant had no shame.
Among the three counts, the 2nd count and the 3rd count in my view were the more serious ones. The incident in the 2nd count involved the taking of all the clothes of the girl as well as the defendant’s clothing. The incident lasted for 1 to 1½ hours. The victim at the time was only 8 and was ordered to bend down on the bed. The defendant then
rubbed his penis against the victim’s private part. Those conducts in my view bordered on attempted rape and were grossly indecent. The defendant subjected the victim, in my view, to inhumane and degrading treatment. It is not difficult to imagine the ordeal that X had to go through for such a long period of time.
The defendant was at the time a father figure to X. Instead of showing care and concern to the girl, he grossly abused the trust that both X and her mother placed on him. For that count, 5 years will be adopted as the starting point. Given the defendant’s plea, that will be reduced to one of 40 months’ imprisonment.
The incident in the 3rd count again involved the taking off of all the clothings of the girl and molesting her breasts. In addition, the defendant inserted his finger into the vagina of such a young lady, causing her great discomfort and pain. That incident lasted for 45 minutes. For that count, 4 years will be adopted as the starting point. Similarly, given the defendant’s plea, the sentence is reduced to one of 32 months.
For the 1st count, the incident was less serious and involved only the defendant touching X’s breasts. However, it was not just one touch. The incident, as I described, lasted for 15 minutes. 3 years will be adopted as the starting point. The sentence is reduced to one of 24 months after plea.
The three incidents spanned over a period of 4 years. It is not difficult to envisage the pain and suffering the girl had to endure during all those years. As indicated by the clinical psychologist, the girl had been a victim of sexual abuse, physical punishment, and psychological maltreatment. This court of course notes that the defendant had not been charged for any physical punishment, physical abuse on X. The three incidents were separate and distinct incidents. The only issue for this court to decide is the overall sentence.
In a case where a breach of trust was involved and the acts were grossly indecent and the consequential effect on the girl was lifelong, exemplary sentences were called for to deter such behaviour and redress the grievance of the victim, relatives, and the public, and the public abhorrence of crimes of this kind.
In my view, an overall starting point of 9 years will be appropriate in this case. As such, it is ordered that 16 months each on Count 1 and Count 3 are to run consecutively to each other and to the 40 imposed on Count 2, thus making a total of 72 months’ imprisonment.
For the three counts of indecent assault the defendant stands convicted, he is sentenced to 6 years’ imprisonment.