Why have juvenile sex crimes surged in Hong Kong and how can the problem be fixed?

Hongkonger Hugo Leung* was 16 and in secondary school when police officers came to his home and arrested him for having sex with an underage girl.

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The pair had met on social media and chatted online for a month before they met for the first time and ended up having sex at her home.

The girl’s parents found out from her phone and called police. Leung was convicted and sentenced to 160 hours of community service.

Now 18, he told the Post their sexual encounter happened on impulse and he believed it was consensual, as they had been exchanging sexually suggestive posts via Instagram.

“I was curious to know how it felt, especially since my friends often talked about their experiences,” he said, adding that the rest of his knowledge about sex came mainly from pornography.

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Leung said he did not know the girl’s age and felt worried and anxious when he was arrested. “I was not sure what would happen to me,” he said.

No longer in touch with the girl after being banned from having contact with her, he said: “I should have been less impulsive and thought carefully before doing it.”

  

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