Read the full judgment text of HCMA 187/2011 on BabelCite. This Court of First Instance judgment was delivered on 19 July 2011 before Wright J.
Criminal law – possession of child pornography – Prevention of Child Pornography Ordinance (Cap 579) s.3(3) – sentencing – appeal – guidelines in Secretary for Justice v MAN Kwong Choi [2008] 5 HKLRD 519 – 47-year-old appellant possessed seven image files and 12 video files including Level 4 material depicting sexual intercourse with girls aged approximately 10-12 and bestiality – whether the magistrate's starting point of 18 months and resulting 12-month sentence (after one-third reduction for guilty plea) was appropriate – held: a magistracy appeal is a rehearing on the material before the magistrate and the court must determine the appropriate sentence in the circumstances – applying the MAN Kwong Choi guidelines and considering the number of items, their nature, the ages of the children involved, and the appellant's personal circumstances – the appellant's claim of having watched only portions of the videos is not mitigation – appellant's two own children's ages fell within the range of victims depicted – sentence of 12 months set aside and replaced with 10 months imprisonment – appeal allowed in part.
Legal issues: Appropriateness of sentence for possession of child pornography under s.3(3) Cap. 579
Outcome: Appeal allowed in part; sentence reduced from 12 months to 10 months imprisonment
Cited by 127 cases