'Caring father' jailed for child porn
A retired businessman was jailed for eight months yesterday for possessing still pictures and video clips of child pornography, including some depicting sadism and bestiality.
Jailing Josiah Chan Chi-ho, 50, Principal Magistrate Andrew Ma Hon-cheung said the images - which included very young girls and babies - depicted a form of child abuse that he said was disgusting, dehumanising and traumatising.
Kowloon City Court heard that Chan had more than 2,000 still images and 207 video clips.
The magistrate was told that Chan, who earlier pleaded guilty to two counts of possessing child pornography, suffered no psychological problems and posed a low risk of re-offending.
Chan's background report said he was extremely remorseful and had subscribed to the website for just a month out of curiosity.
But the magistrate said Chan had downloaded a substantial amount from the website and had taken the trouble to store them on eight computer discs. Chan's claim of having very little interest in such materials was unacceptable, he said.
Police raided Chan's home on Prince Edward Road East, Kowloon City, on May 30 with a search warrant and found the discs in his bedroom. More illegal pornographic materials were found in a computer in his dining room.
A vast percentage of the material found was ranked less serious, with images depicting erotic posing of children. But a small amount fell into the most extreme category involving sexual intercourse, sadism and bestiality.
In a mitigation letter, Chan's family described him as a loving husband, a caring father and a man well-respected by friends.
Senior Counsel Gary Plowman pleaded for leniency, saying the retiree was extremely remorseful and had learned a serious lesson during his remand pending sentence.
