Hong Kong judge sentences man to 21 years’ jail for repeatedly raping daughter, 9, calling him ‘scum of the earth’
62-year-old defendant was earlier convicted of six counts of rape and four of making child pornography
A jobless man who sexually assaulted his daughter more than 100 times since she was five over a period of three years was described by a High Court judge as “the scum of the earth” and sentenced to 21 years in prison on Wednesday.
The defendant, who had photographed some of the incidents, was earlier unanimously convicted by a seven-person jury of all 10 charges he faced: six counts of rape and four of making child pornography of his daughter.
The 62-year-old man, whose name cannot be revealed to protect the victim’s identity, had earlier pleaded not guilty.
In handing down the sentence, Madam Justice Maggie Poon Man-kay described the crimes as “unconscionable” and “abhorrent”.
“The girl said she had been ‘raped’ more than 100 times,” said Poon.
In a recorded video interview shown in court earlier, the victim, now nine, told police that the first alleged sexual assault took place when she was five.
“He used his thing to penetrate into where I go to toilet with,” the girl said. She told the policewoman on video that there must have been more than 100 incidents.
On Wednesday, the judge said she took into account the seriousness of the crimes before she passed sentence. In Hong Kong, rape carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
Poon noted that the victim, being the defendant’s own daughter, was first sexually assaulted when she was “extremely young”.
“The incidents spanned three years and took place repeatedly,” she said.
“He took pictures when he sexually assaulted his daughter, and he did not practise safe sex,” she continued.
The court was required to punish heavily those who intentionally harmed their children, and to send this message loud and clear, the judge said.
“The infliction of pain on your own child’s body is a breach of trust put in parents by society,” Poon added.
She read out in court a quote from Austrian neurologist and “father of psychoanalysis” Sigmund Freud: “I cannot think of any need in childhood as strong as the need for a father’s protection.”
The girl hates the defendant and would only address him as ‘the bad guy’.
Psychological reports indicated that the victim suffered from low self-esteem and felt unsafe, even though she was now being taken care of by her mother and no longer living with the defendant, said Poon.
“The girl hates the defendant and would only address him as ‘the bad guy’,” the judge said.
“For fear of reprisals, she wants him to be jailed for life,” said Poon, quoting the report.
The incidents began after the girl’s mother, a mainlander, was unable to secure a visa to Hong Kong after being jailed for a criminal offence in the city in 2011, the court heard earlier.
The victim would not be given food if she refused to succumb, the court was told.
The judge said the father was “immoral” and “remorseless”, and the sentence imposed had to deter future offending.
“A father like him is the scum of the earth,” said Poon.
In mitigation, barrister Leung Chun-keung, for the defendant, said his client had no previous criminal record, and the likelihood of a repeat offence by him was low.
The lawyer said outside court that his client was considering filing an appeal against the conviction.
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