Two Hong Kong police officers have been sentenced to 14 months in jail each for trying to buy off a teenage girl with HK$100,000 (US$12,850) to stop her from testifying over accusations one of them had sex with her when she was under age.
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Constables Yao Yanwu, 29, and Ng Sing-yap, 28, pleaded guilty to a joint charge of perverting the course of justice at the District Court on Thursday after prosecutors agreed to drop charges of unlawful sex and inciting a child under 16 to commit a grossly indecent act.
The pair, who are both suspended by the force, had been released on bail pending trial over allegations they committed a spate of sexual offences against the then 15-year-old girl between 2021 and 2022. The trials were initially slated for February and March this year.
The complainant, now 18, phoned Yao on December 15 last year to say she would not testify against Ng because she still had feelings for him.
The constable then suggested paying her HK$100,000 on the condition that she also remove herself from Ng’s trial, but the girl refused.
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She phoned Yao again eight days later and pretended to accept the offer, while taping the conversation to be used to file a police report.
Yao said under caution he had made an impulsive decision to offer the money because he had wanted to help his former colleague.