A Hong Kong court sentenced a former teacher on Monday to 18 months in prison for molesting a student, aged 15 at the time, on two occasions in 2020.
District Judge Gary Lam Kar-yan described defendant Cheng Hon-sze’s case as serious and said there was no room for a reduced sentence, even if it was a first offence.
Cheng, now 32, was sentenced at Tsuen Wan Court after being found guilty of two counts of indecent assault for groping the student and making her perform an obscene act in May and October 2020.
He was cleared of seven other counts of indecent assault as the court ruled the girl on those occasions had not expressly refused the defendant’s advances or that the acts involved were not considered inherently indecent.
The defendant earlier admitted to having repeatedly engaged in intimate acts with the victim in the school’s music storage room and other locations.
Lam sentenced Cheng to one year in jail for each count of indecent assault, while ordering that the prison terms be served as a partially consecutive sentence, bringing the overall period down to 18 months.
He said the sentencing took into consideration the 11-year age difference between the defendant and the victim, the level of indecency and the damage to the pupil.
Cheng taught the girl in Forms One, Two and Four to Six. He was also in charge of the school’s marching band, of which she performed as a trumpeter.
Alongside the offences he was convicted of, the defendant was previously accused of repeatedly molesting the girl from November 2019 to June 2024. She was between 14 and 19 at that time.
According to a trauma report on the victim, she was still processing her feelings towards the defendant, whom she considered to have both helped and hurt her.
The report said she had experienced a contradictory and extreme mental state that had lasted for several years, leading her to neglect personal boundaries and suppress her disgust.
The judge, quoting the report, said the girl had developed “twisted values” of accepting the harm caused by someone if they showed care for her.
The report attributed this mindset to her inability to fully understand the concerning nature of the incidents.
Such an experience at a crucial developmental period had prompted her to view the world as unsafe and untrustworthy, with the victim fearing that, however a person appeared, they could still hurt and betray her, the document read.
Lam said the victim’s road to emotional recovery would be a long one.
“I can only wish her well and hope she emerges from this dark period as soon as possible,” he added, urging her to seek help if necessary.
He cited a clinical psychologist’s report, which noted that the defendant had difficulties in building age-appropriate romantic relationships, and had also failed to fully understand the power imbalance involved or that such behaviour was not socially acceptable.
As a result, Cheng would be required to take part in follow-up work with social workers, the judge said.
The judge cited the clinical psychologist’s advice that the Correctional Services Department provide the defendant with the appropriate professional help as part of his rehabilitation programme.
The report concluded that Cheng had a low to moderate chance of reoffending, but noted he was willing to receive professional help.
The defence earlier argued that Cheng’s lack of relationship experience led him to develop feelings for the victim that overrode his judgement and said the defendant deeply regretted the strain his actions had placed on his family.
His legal counsel conceded that the teacher-student boundary should never have been crossed and urged the court to consider Cheng’s youth at the time of the offences, among other factors, and impose a lighter sentence.
The court also received mitigation letters from the defendant’s sister and a friend, who claimed the incident was out of character and highlighted that he had applied to pursue a master’s degree at Polytechnic University after being barred from teaching. -- SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
