Hong Kong father jailed for 22 years for decade-long sexual abuse of daughter
A 48-year-old man has been sentenced to 22 years in jail after he repeatedly raped his daughter over a period of 10 years, starting when the victim was only 14.
Recorder of the Court of First Instance of the High Court Eric Kwok jailed the man, identified as Y.S., on Tuesday, The Witness reported.
Kwok said in court that the offender treated his daughter like a “sex toy” and showed no genuine remorse following prosecution, adding that the victim endured a living hell during the decade of persistent sexual abuse.
The recorder said the case was “one of the worst” rape cases in Hong Kong.
💡If you are suffering from sexual or domestic violence, regardless of your age or gender, contact the police, Harmony House (click for details) and/or the Social Welfare Department on 28948896. Dial 999 in emergencies.
After remissions, the offender will serve about 15 years behind bars, though it will not offset the pain endured by the victim, Kwok said.
Y.S., who said he was a construction worker, stood accused of raping his daughter 14 times at their homes in Hong Kong and Shenzhen between 2014 and 2024.
He slapped his daughter when she fought back and, on one occasion, he raped her even when she had a fever. He also ordered his daughter to take contraceptive pills, the court has heard.
The victim reported her experiences to the police in April 2024 after another instance of rape.
Y.S. pleaded guilty to 14 counts of rape and one count of buggery without consent in late July, Ming Pao reported.
The recorder said the offender had not genuinely reflected on what he did to his daughter. He chose to plead guilty only when he knew he would be convicted, Kwok said.
Calls for new offences
Under Hong Kong’s current legal system, there is no offence covering the ordeal of long-term sexual child abuse. Whether dealing with rape or a chain of indecent assaults, any prosecution must focus on specific incidents.
This requires the victim to remember the precise date and venue of the incident, as well as the exact conduct of the defendant, making it difficult and painful for people who suffered sexual abuse in childhood, HKFP reported in June.
Victims of sexual abuse and NGOs serving sexual abuse survivors have been calling for the establishment of a new offence of persistent child sexual abuse.
Earlier in June, the government proposed an overhaul of sex crime legislation to overhaul the city’s long outdated sexual laws.
However, the reforms do not include plans to introduce a new offence of long-term child sexual abuse.
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Irene Chan is a reporter at Hong Kong Free Press and has an interest in covering political and social change. She previously worked at Initium Media as chief editor for Hong Kong news and was a community organiser at the Society for Community Organisation serving the underprivileged. She has a bachelor’s degree in Journalism from Fudan University and a master’s degree in social work from the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Irene is the recipient of two Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA) awards and three honourable mentions for her investigative, feature and video reporting. She also received a Human Rights Press Award for multimedia reporting and an honourable mention for feature writing.
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