He just couldn’t help himself, the court heard.
Afflicted by a long-time sexual fetish for female footwear, 28-year-old trainee Christian counsellor Li Cheuk-yin yesterday copped to pinching a woman’s leather shoe from a building in Tsuen Wan, his third such admission since 2013.
According to Apple Daily, Li has been grappling with a shoe fetish for 20 years, developing it as an eight-year-old.
He’s been caught twice before pilfering ladies footwear — including children’s dancing shoes — once in 2012 and again two years later.
Since his first conviction, he had tried to go straight, the court heard, receiving regular treatment from psychologists to keep his fetish in check.
He’s also started a bachelor of Christian counselling at the Hong Kong Institute of Christian Counsellors in a bid to deal with his problem and help others.
But on March 17 last year, he wasn’t able to help himself, the District Court heard yesterday.
While visiting a traditional Chinese doctor on the first floor of a tenement building in Tsuen Wan during his lunch break from a church service, Li was struck by the urge to look for women’s shoes.
On the fourth floor, he found a flat with a shoe rack behind an unlocked gate, where a pink leather flat was too much to resist.
Exiting from the building, Li caught the attention of a police officer, who chased him down and discovered the stolen footwear.
Pointing to his efforts to address his problem, the defense team called for leniency and submitted letters from people at Li’s church vowing to help him, Ming Pao reported.
Noting that sentencing guidelines for burglary on domestic premises recommend a jail term starting at three years, the SCMP reported that sentencing was scheduled for February 22, pending reports on his psychological and psychiatric condition and his suitability for community service.
