THIRD World children have suffered for the actions of a leading local charity chief who was convicted of indecent assault earlier this week.
World Vision Hong Kong said yesterday that five sponsors had withdrawn their support after its chief executive, Pastor David Ngai Kung-ming, was found guilty on Monday.
Three of the donors sponsored four children in the Third World. The others had made regular general cash contributions.
Ngai, who was fined $8,000 for assaulting a former colleague, has been suspended from duty until his appeal.
'The court case is nothing to do with our organisation. We hope our donors will understand this, otherwise the final victims will be the poor, needy people in the Third World,' said Liann Chan Shui-ying, local operations manager.
But she admitted they feared more donors would quit and intended to write to its 60,000 local sponsors asking them to maintain their support.
The charity last year received $99.1 million in donations, much of which was spent on the Child Sponsorship Programme.