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DCCC738/2010
IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE
HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION
CRIMINAL CASE NO. 738 OF 2010
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Before:
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H H Judge Longley
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Date:
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6 September 2010 at 10.03 am
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Present:
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Mr Lenny Cheng, PP, of the Department of Justice, for HKSAR
Ms Chan Ka-wai, Betty, of Betty Chan & Co., assigned by the Director of Legal Aid, for the Defendant
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Offence:
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Indecent assault on another person (猥褻侵犯另一人)
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Reasons for Sentence
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1. Lai Ka-man, you have been convicted on your own plea of indecently assaulting a 10-year-old schoolgirl at the building in which you lived in Tai Wai in Shatin.
2. The victim was in school uniform returning home at about 3.25 pm on 2 June this year. She entered the same lift as you, intending to go up to the 24th floor, where her home was situated. The lift went up and passed the 11th floor where you yourself lived. You had not pushed the button for the 11th floor and so you did not get out. The only other occupant of the lift got out at the 22nd floor.
3. When the lift arrived at the 24th floor, the victim left the lift and you followed her and suddenly grabbed her arm. She struggled with you. You then produced a cutter, which you pointed at her. As a result, she stopped resisting.
4. You then grabbed her left breast over her uniform for about half a minute and also touched her buttocks over her uniform for about one minute. After that, you exposed your penis to her.
5. The girl ran away back home and told her father.
6. You were eventually located with the assistance of the CCTV cameras in the lift and in the building.
7. I need not tell you that this is a very serious offence indeed. It involved remaining in the lift with a very young girl after the other passenger had left, following her out of the lift and then threatening her with a cutter to force her to stop resisting and succumb to your indecent assault.
8. One only has to state the facts to realise the fear and distress this offence would have caused to this young girl.
9. I have seen a report from the Social Welfare Department dated in June this year. Although after a period of distress she might not then have been exhibiting any outward signs of stress, the effect on her of this offence cannot possibly be predicted.
10. Her parents are understandably worried about the psychological effect on her. The Family and Child Protection Services Unit of the Social Welfare Department are keeping her emotional and psychological state under review.
11. This offence has meant that her parents are now adopting a very protective attitude to her and will not let her go out of their flat on her own. As a result of your attack, her parents have applied to move home because of the association of their present home with what you did that day and to avoid any possibility that their daughter might encounter you in the future.
12. What makes this offence even more disturbing is the fact that this is not the first offence of a sexual nature committed by you. On 20 January last year you were put on probation for 12 months after you had been caught taking photographs up the skirt of a young girl.
13. This court obviously has to consider the danger your conduct in the past poses to society in the future. It is for that reason I called for a background report and a report from a psychologist. Following a request from your solicitor stating that you considered that you might be suffering from psychiatric illness, I also obtained a psychiatric report.
14. It does not appear you are suffering from any mental illness.
15. As far as the psychologist’s report is concerned, the clinical psychologist appears to consider that your problem is failure to control your sexual urges. She says that the violent nature of this present offence shows that the problem is escalating. She does not consider that there is enough evidence at the moment to conclude that you have a deviant interest in young children. It may simply be that as a child the victim in this case was an easy target. She is of the view that the risk of you committing a further offence is in the moderate range.
16. Unfortunately, that is not the view of the psychiatrist, who takes a less optimistic view of the chances of you re-offending.
17. Both the psychiatrist and the psychologist recommend that you receive psychological treatment. They say that much depends on your motivation to respond to treatment.
18. I have listened to all that Miss Chan has said on your behalf.
19. After careful thought, I have concluded that the appropriate starting point in this case is a sentence of 5 years’ imprisonment. I had considered a higher starting point but I have borne in mind that the maximum term of imprisonment for an offence of indecent assault is 10 years, and also that this is a case where there is still hope that you will respond to treatment.
20. You have pleaded guilty and are entitled to the usual discount of one-third. I also bear in mind that by pleading guilty you have spared your victim the further ordeal of giving evidence.
21. I have concluded that the appropriate sentence, taking all those matters into account, is a term of 3 years’ imprisonment.
22. It is very important that during your time in prison you receive psychological treatment. I strongly recommend to the Commissioner of Correctional Services that you receive such treatment and I order that the reports the court has obtained be forwarded to him.
23. As I have said, the success of that treatment depends upon whether you are genuinely motivated to benefit from it.
24. I must warn you that should you fail to respond to treatment and commit this sort of offence again, the courts are likely to pass very long sentences of imprisonment to remove the risk that you will re-offend again.
25. The sentence that I pass therefore is one of 3 years’ imprisonment.
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P.K.M. Longley |
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District Court Judge |
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