A Hong Kong court sentenced a 35-year-old police officer to 46 months in jail for sexually assaulting six girls aged between 11 and 14 during 2017 and 2018.

Yu Chun-hing, a police officer in the Narcotics Bureau, admitted to eight charges, including indecent assault, intercourse with a girl under 16, and possessing child pornography, in December last year, and received his jail sentence at the District Court on Wednesday.

district court
District Court. Photo: Ellie Ng/HKFP.

Between 2017 and 2018, Yu used social media platforms to chat with underaged girls online, and sexually assaulted them after he asked to meet. He was arrested in June 2018, but was granted bail. Yu then molested another 14-year-old girl while on bail in July that year.

District Judge Timothy Casewell said the age difference between Yu and his victims was considerable, and the number of victims and frequency of offences were also aggravating circumstances.

Casewell added that while Yu used the internet to attract his victims, he did not use his status as a police officer, and hence his identity as an officer was not a reason for a harsher prison sentence.

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Candice is a reporter at Hong Kong Free Press. She previously worked as a researcher at a local think tank. She has a BSocSc in Politics and International Relations from the University of Manchester and a MSc in International Political Economy from London School of Economics.