Hong Kong police veteran jailed for 9 weeks for sexual assault of female officer

A veteran Hong Kong police officer has been jailed for nine weeks and fined HK$6,000 (US$772) for twice assaulting a female junior colleague at work earlier this year.

Kwun Tong Court on Friday convicted Senior Inspector Leung Yun-sing, 57, of indecently assaulting the policewoman by embracing her and patting her buttocks at Hung Hom Police Station on February 18, on the pretext of showing concern about her job performance.

The inspector, who has served for 37 years, was also found guilty of common assault for grabbing the complainant’s arms while purportedly giving her work-related advice earlier the same day.

Magistrate Eric Yao Kwok-sun acknowledged that the accused must have a good track record and personal background, as his senior rank reflected, but said imprisonment was clearly necessary given the seriousness of his offences.

Yao criticised Leung for abusing his seniority to flout the law, but agreed to partially reduce his sentence as the ruling would effectively ruin his future.

The magistrate deducted one-tenth from the starting point of 10 weeks and imposed an additional fine for grabbing the policewoman’s arms.

Leung obtained the court’s permission to defer serving his custodial sentence pending the outcome of an appeal at the High Court.