Chess tutor jailed 18 months over sex with girl
HK01 · 5 SOURCESabout 3 hours ago6 MIN
Summary
A 38-year-old chess tutor, Chan Koon-hong (陳冠匡), was sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment on Friday after admitting one count of unlawful sexual intercourse with a girl under 13 and two counts involving a girl under 16. The District Court, sitting at Tsuen Wan Magistrates’ Courts, heard that he met the girl through a cosplay event in 2024, and that she was 12 when they first had sex after claiming she was 15. The judge accepted that the girl had been proactive and that the defendant was not a calculated sexual predator, but said a man in his late 30s had to take responsibility for failing to restrain himself and for crossing a clear moral and legal line. The court also considered reports showing the girl later suffered post-traumatic symptoms and had wrongly believed sex would bring her care and affection.
Key Points
- Deputy District Judge Wai Hon-hei sentenced Chan after he pleaded guilty to three charges, while two further counts involving a girl under 16 were left on the court file.
- The offences were said to have taken place between December 2024 and April 6, 2025, at a flat in Lung Tsai Village, Cheung Chau, and a room at The Loop Hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui.
- The first sexual encounter happened in December 2024 in Chan’s bedroom in Cheung Chau, when the girl claimed she was 15, took the initiative, and a condom was used.
- By late December, the girl told Chan she was actually 12; despite that, he later attended her 13th birthday celebration in January 2025 and continued having sex with her in March.
- The judge said children under 16 cannot give true consent in law, and that the younger the child, the less likely any apparent consent can be treated as genuine.
Why It Matters
The ruling underlines that in Hong Kong, a minor’s apparent willingness, initiative or false claim about age does not remove criminal liability in unlawful sex cases involving children. It also shows the court’s focus on the vulnerability of young people, especially where emotional need, poor family relationships and misunderstanding of intimacy may leave them exposed to exploitation even in relationships presented as consensual.