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A warehouse assistant was jailed on Monday at the High Court in Admiralty for a campaign of sexual abuse against a boy that started when his victim was 10 years old. Photo: Roy Issa

Hong Kong paedophile jailed for seven years at High Court for horrific sexual attacks on boy from age of 10

  • Ho Wing-hong offered cash and computer gear as rewards during lengthy campaign of abuse, most of which he filmed
  • Jailed molester admitted 13 sexual offences, including homosexual buggery with a minor

A Hong Kong man was jailed for seven years on Monday for luring an underage boy into having sex with him by offering money and free computer parts.

Ho Wing-hong, 31, began molesting the boy in 2012 when the child was about 10 years old, the High Court heard in December last year, when Ho pleaded guilty to 13 sexual offences.

His attacks became more aggressive and he eventually induced the boy into having intercourse with him in 2016, filming most of the abuse.

Sentencing Ho on Monday, High Court Deputy Judge Amanda Woodcock called his actions “deplorable”, as he used monetary rewards to subject the boy, referred to in court as X, to years of abuse.

“There was consent because he was preyed upon and exploited successfully,” she said.

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Woodcock added the court had a duty to protect children because they were extremely vulnerable in their formative age and could be easily induced and persuaded.

The court heard X has suffered mentally as a result of the ordeal and experienced recurring nightmares and symptoms of social withdrawal.

A psychologist found he was so withdrawn the extent of the impact of the crimes he suffered could not be ascertained because X refused to talk freely.

Among the charges the warehouse assistant pleaded guilty to was homosexual buggery with a minor, making him the first defendant to be sentenced since the High Court last month revised the maximum penalty for the offence after ruling it discriminatory against gay men.

The maximum sentence, originally for life, has since been reduced to five years, in line with the term faced by a heterosexual man convicted of unlawful sexual intercourse with a girl under 16.

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But Ho’s time in jail exceeded five years because the judge ordered the sentences imposed on other charges to be served concurrently.

Ho pleaded guilty to five counts of indecent conduct with or towards a child under the age of 16, two counts of homosexual buggery with a man under the age of 16, one of attempted homosexual buggery with a man aged under 16, one of possession of child pornography and four others of making child pornography.

The prosecutors said the boy met Ho at a basketball game when he was aged 10. Ho soon offered the boy cash and computer components in exchange for sexual acts. The boy agreed, at times unwillingly, the court heard.

On almost every occasion, he would film the abuse “for his own viewing”, the court heard.

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In an interview with police, the boy said he was paid between HK$100 (US$12.80) and HK$400 depending on the sex act involved.

The attacks were uncovered during a police operation targeting child pornography, which led investigators to an IP address linked to him.

The court heard he had a paedophilic disposition, but had pledged to undergo treatment.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Man jailed for sexually abusing boy from age of 10
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