A 44-year-old father was sentenced to 15 years in jail yesterday for repeatedly raping his daughter since she was just 7 years old, a shocking crime that was first disclosed in an anonymous note from the young girl to her teachers.
The defendant, who was referred to in court as HKH, was found guilty on two counts of rape and one count of indecent assault in January.
In a report on yesterday’s sentencing, Ming Pao noted that Justice Patrick Li Hon-leung slammed the defendant for abusing the trust his child placed in him as her father, adding that she wasn’t able to protect herself.
During the trial, the court heard that HKH had raped or sexually assaulted X on at least six occasions, starting when she was just 7. Prosecutors had enough evidence to charge HKH with one incident of indecent assault that happened when X was 8 years old, along with two incidents of rape that happened when she was 9 and 10 years old, respectively.
The first of these three counts occurred at the family home in Tuen Mun when X wet her bed and asked her father to help her get some new clothes. He then pushed her onto the bed and rubbed his genitals against hers for two to three minutes.
HKH was finally arrested after X put an anonymous note in a mailbox set up by the school’s sex education program that read: “Will I get pregnant if I was forced to have sex with my dad?” The note prompted school administrators to seek out the student and take action.
Justice Li praised the school for setting up the mailbox and for their handling of the situation.
At the sentencing hearing, HKH’s defense counsel offered, by way of mitigation, a letter sent by X to her father in prison in February of last year.
The letter read: “Daddy I miss you so much, did you lose weight over there? If you have you need to tell me. I have taught Y [X’s puppy] how to shake hands, I’m so happy. When are you coming home? I got 70 points in my Chinese dictation, are you happy? I broke a record. I miss you very much.”
The newspaper reports that X wrote “love you” on the letter.
The defense claimed that X did not suffer from major trauma, and that the letter proved she still had a good relationship with him.
But Justice Li was not convinced, saying that X’s letter contradicted her psychological report, which found her fearful of retaliation from her father and of the possibility of people learning about what happened to her.
Not only that, the report also recommended that X receive psychological treatment after finding her evasive, sensitive and emotional to the point that it affected her daily life and studies.
