A Hong Kong man was sentenced on Wednesday, Apr 20, to five weeks in jail for indecently assaulting his Filipino domestic worker by exposing and fondling himself behind her.
But Kwun Tong magistrate Vennie Chiu acquitted the employer, Shek Kwok-ngai, of three other indecent assault charges and one of common assault.
The guilty verdict against Shek
concerned one particular incident when the maid managed to film him with her phone camera while he was performing lascivious acts behind her.
The verdict and sentencing capped a four-day trial that followed a High Court order to the Director of Public Prosecutions
Keith Yeung to pursue the case. The DPP had originally declined to prosecute, citing insufficiency of evidence.
Chiu had adjourned the case for a month to consider his decision.
Shek was accused by his former maid “D” of indecently assaulting her several times by abusing himself right behind her while his act was reflected on the TV screen or on cabinet glass panels.
The defense counsel vigorously argued that the defendant’s acts could not be described as assault because he never touched the complainant's body.
“The mere fact of raising a fist against your face is considered assault,” the lawyer said.
“But not touching the complainant’s body may not constitute assault…in the end, it’s whether he act is intended to be hostile,” he said.
But Chiu believed otherwise. She said that by masturbating and fondling his genitals in the presence of the complainant, Shek committed an indecent assault. - Vir B. Lumicao
The guilty verdict against Shek
concerned one particular incident when the maid managed to film him with her phone camera while he was performing lascivious acts behind her.
The verdict and sentencing capped a four-day trial that followed a High Court order to the Director of Public Prosecutions
Keith Yeung to pursue the case. The DPP had originally declined to prosecute, citing insufficiency of evidence.
Chiu had adjourned the case for a month to consider his decision.
Shek was accused by his former maid “D” of indecently assaulting her several times by abusing himself right behind her while his act was reflected on the TV screen or on cabinet glass panels.
The defense counsel vigorously argued that the defendant’s acts could not be described as assault because he never touched the complainant's body.
“The mere fact of raising a fist against your face is considered assault,” the lawyer said.
“But not touching the complainant’s body may not constitute assault…in the end, it’s whether he act is intended to be hostile,” he said.
But Chiu believed otherwise. She said that by masturbating and fondling his genitals in the presence of the complainant, Shek committed an indecent assault. - Vir B. Lumicao
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