2½ years’ jail for Hong Kong district councillor who had sex with 13-year-old girl in 2011

A Hong Kong district councillor has been sentenced to two years and six months in jail for having unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl 15 years ago, with a judge noting he had shown no remorse towards a victim he claimed to have loved.

District Court Judge Stanley Chan Kwong-chi on Tuesday noted that Sei Chun-hing, a 39-year-old Yuen Long District Council member, was aware of the “red line” of sex with a minor when they started dating in October 2010. At the time, she was 13 and Sei 23.

Chan noted that, despite submitting mitigation letters from politicians, friends and family members, Sei himself did not write one.

“Only the defendant’s mitigation letter is missing…he did not express any remorse or felt sorry to [the complainant] in his mitigation submission,” Chan said.

The judge earlier convicted Sei of one count of unlawful sex with a girl under 16. Chan said there was no basis for a sentence reduction, noting Sei had been convicted after trial.

The court heard that Sei had planned the night on which he would persuade the secondary school pupil to have sex with him. The planned date was March 14, 2011, a month after he gave her a handcrafted gift for Valentine’s Day.

“He took advantage of [the victim’s] profound love for him and used the excuse of celebrating ‘White Day’ to take her virginity,” Chan said.

According to the 29-year-old victim, identified as X in the court proceedings, she was 11 years old and in primary school when she met Sei through a school theatre production in 2008.

They started dating in October 2010 and continued to do so for a year before Sei left her for another woman.

Citing the impact report, Chan noted that X had suffered post-traumatic stress disorder and went through a difficult period after Sei took her virginity and then broke up with her.

The report noted that X was particularly distressed because she only “reluctantly accepted” Sei’s sexual advances as she saw him as a lifelong partner.

The court earlier heard that X reported Sei to police more than a decade after the offence when she learned he was running as a district council candidate in 2023 and felt he could be a threat to other girls.

The judge rejected Sei’s earlier mitigation claim that he and the victim were “deeply in love” when she agreed to have sex with him.

Chan also rejected the defence’s submissions on Sei’s good character and contribution to society in his political career, saying those charity works came after his crime and that giving weight to such mitigation “would not be fair to the victim”.

As of 12pm on Tuesday, Sei remained listed as a member of the Yuen Long District Council on its website.

In September, 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 then.

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