Half-brother admits molesting girl, 8, after saying he was in love
A 21-year-old man who molested his eight-year-old half-sister told police they were in love, even though he admitted it was an immoral relationship, a court heard yesterday.
The diploma student committed the acts after giving the girl sex lessons from biology books and teaching her how to resist the advances of other men, a prosecutor told the District Court.
The man, whose name is being withheld to protect the girl, admitted that he had indecently assaulted her on six occasions between August 2005 and December 2007.
The court heard he told police that he badly wanted his half-sister to be his girlfriend and could not bear to let another man touch her.
The prosecution said the victim was reluctant at first to be touched by the defendant and only accepted it out of fear that 'he would not play with her' or might even hit her.
But towards the end of last year, the girl initiated a sexual act on at least one occasion. She told the police in an interview that she loved her brother.
The relationship was uncovered last December when the girl told her mother about the incidents. The parents decided not to report the defendant, who they sent to stay with his uncle. But he told them a few days later that he preferred to take responsibility for what he did.
Defence counsel Michael Leung called the case a tragedy.
'If the same act was performed by normal lovers, they would not constitute a problem. What made it wrong are their ages and the abnormal relationship,' he said.
Mr Leung said in mitigation that the boy was an achiever and a quiet student in school.
He could have developed the improper feelings for his sister because of their narrow social lives and an introverted personality, he said.
District Court Judge Joseph Yau Chi-lap adjourned sentencing to April 14 pending probation, community services, detention and psychology reports, and a report on how the incidents had affected the girl.
