Hong Kong district councillor remanded in custody after underage sex conviction

A Hong Kong court has remanded a district councillor in custody pending sentence after convicting him of unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl 15 years ago, rejecting his claim that the allegation was politically motivated.

Yuen Long District Council member Sei Chun-hing, 39, is set to become the first elected officer to face imprisonment for a criminal offence since a Beijing-led electoral overhaul in 2021, which ensured only those endorsed by authorities as “patriotic” can assume public office.

The District Court on Monday accepted the complainant’s testimony that Sei had committed sexual acts on her on March 14, 2011, telling her he expected the then secondary school pupil to reciprocate a month after he gave her a handcrafted Valentine’s Day gift.

Sei, a personal assistant to former cultural and sports lawmaker Ma Fung-kwok, was convicted of unlawful sex with a girl under 16, an offence punishable by up to five years’ imprisonment.

He was acquitted of a separate indecent assault charge relating to a 2008 incident on technical grounds.

Judge Stanley Chan Kwong-chi also dismissed Sei’s contention that the woman’s evidence was tainted by her desire to punish him for his pro-establishment views or for ending their relationship.

The government announced an internal inquiry following a petition by the Yuen Long District Council chairman and three other members to the secretary for home and youth affairs.

“The government places great importance on the conduct and integrity of [district council] members, and will closely monitor the progress of the legal proceedings and follow up accordingly,” a spokesman said.

The complainant, now 29 and identified only as X, said she was 11 years old and in Primary Six when Sei, then an assistant to the director of her school’s theatre production, molested her in November 2008.

She said she avoided contact with the defendant after the incident until they met again in October 2010, reconciled and soon became a couple.

The woman recalled Sei, who was 23 at the time, describing her as his wife and suggesting she could only demonstrate her love by having sex with him.

On Valentine’s Day in 2011, Sei gave her a rose-shaped ornament engraved with their names and asked her to reciprocate a month later on White Day, usually celebrated as a second Valentine’s Day in East Asia.

The complainant said she reluctantly had sex with the accused at his residence in Tin Shui Wai to maintain their relationship.

In the witness box, Sei admitted developing romantic feelings for the girl but dismissed her allegations as pure fabrication.

He insisted he met the girl for the first time a month after the alleged sexual assault in 2008, while contending he could not have had sex with the complainant at his home in 2011 because he was busy with work.

Judge Chan rejected Sei’s account as untruthful, noting that metadata attached to images he submitted as evidence might have been altered to aid his defence.

He stressed that the complainant’s motive for filing the police report was not pivotal to the court’s determination.

“The alleged incidents of indecent assault and unlawful sex, if proven beyond reasonable doubt, are facts independent of whether X had filed a police report for political reasons or because her love had turned to hate,” he said.

The judge said the complainant gave a credible and reasonable account of the event that took place on March 14, 2011, while rejecting the defendant’s claim that he was at a meeting with a theatre colleague that afternoon.

Chan further held that he molested the woman when she was 11 in 2008 but said the prosecution failed to prove its case because the complainant was unable to show the incident took place at the time and place specified in the indictment.

The court will hear oral mitigation arguments on October 27 before passing sentence.

Under the District Councils Ordinance, a member is disqualified if sentenced to more than three months’ imprisonment for an offence.

Additionally, performance monitoring guidelines mandated by the government stipulate that an officeholder can face sanctions for gross misconduct or a criminal offence attracting a jail term, even if the sentence is not severe enough to warrant disqualification. -- SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST