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| Tiquia was detained at Siu Lam Psychiatric Centre ahead of his sentencing (Wikimedia photo) |
A High Court judge ordered a Filipino electronic engineer to be remanded at Siu Lam Psychiatric Center earlier today, so a psychiatric and psychological examination can be conducted on him before his sentencing for three counts of indecent assault on a young girl.
Judge Andrew
Chan said he wanted to make sure Joel M. Tiquia, 51, did not pose a risk to the
community before determining the appropriate sentence on
him.
He set down the sentencing
in the afternoon of May 29, saying he wanted the case finished as soon as possible.
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| TAWAG NA! |
Judge Chan earlier
noted that the court files on Tiquia’s previous conviction in 2016 for two
counts of indecent assault on a woman had been lost. However, the judge said he
was able to retrieve the transcripts of the proceedings in the magistrate’s
court where the case was heard.
In that earlier case, Tiquia was sentenced to three weeks in jail for committing indecent assault twice on a woman in a shuttle bus.
In the first incident which happened
in December 2015, he touched the arm of the woman, and about two weeks later, he
deliberately sat next to the same woman and rubbed himself against her.
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| PINDUTIN DITO! |
Judge Chan told the
defense counsel, “It seems to me that your client has shown some sexually
deviant behavior.”
Told that Tiquia
was remorseful and just wanted the case to be resolved soon, the judge said this
may be the case, but a full psychiatric and psychological report on the
defendant, as well as the psychological impact on his victim, were still needed
to come up with an appropriate sentence.
Tiquia admitted
three counts of indecent assault on a girl inside a flat in Caribbean Coast in
Tung Chung, which started in April 2017 when the victim was just seven years
old. He repeated the assault the next year, and again in October 2021, when the girl was 11.
Tiquia pleaded
guilty to the charges nearly two years after committing the final offence. He
was allowed to post bail until last month, when the judge ordered him taken
into custody pending a review of his previous convictions.
According to the
Section 122 (1) of Crimes Ordinance of Hong Kong, a crime of indecent assault
could fetch up to 10 years in prison.
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