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Police have launched an investigation into child sex abuse by three Hong Kong Catholic priests and appealed for victims and their families to come forward.

Pressure was mounting last night on the Church to release more information about the scandal, exposed exclusively by the South China Morning Post  on Thursday, including the nature and seriousness of the offences.

Chief Secretary for Administration Donald Tsang Yam-kuen, a devout Catholic, said last night the abuse was a 'misfortune and a crime'.

Against Child Abuse, a non-government organisation, urged the Church to explain why it did not report the cases to police.

The head of the Catholic Church in Hong Kong, Cardinal John Baptist Wu Cheng-chung, confirmed in yesterday's report that three paedophile priests had been found guilty of sexually abusing children in their care by internal church hearings. The cases were reported during the past 27 years.

The three offenders were required to do penances, undergo spiritual renewal and receive counselling and psychiatric therapy. Families of the victims received apologies and were offered financial help from the Church.

In a statement released last night, the Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong said one priest committed sexual abuse in his home country 'many years ago', long before he came to Hong Kong.

'The priest was recalled and was barred from any ministry involving contact with minors. There was no complaint and no evidence or suspicion of any wrongdoing during his time in Hong Kong. The priests involved in the other two cases were both suspended from public ministry, with one subsequently leaving the priesthood,' the diocese said.

'The diocesan authority will adopt a no-tolerance policy. This means any Catholic priest working in Hong Kong, once proven to have committed even one act of sexual abuse of a minor, shall be removed from public ministry.'

The Church will form a committee composed of legal, educational and medical experts to review and formulate policies on sexual abuse of minors. The committee will lay down guidelines to ensure that 'all requirements of the SAR laws are complied with'.

The head of the Police Public Relations Branch, Chief Superintendent Charles Wong Doon-yee, said yesterday officers were trying to obtain further information about the cases.

The head of the Police Child Protection Unit, Superintendent Shirley Chu Ming-po, said any person or institution should report any suspected case of child abuse to the police. 'It is only by reporting the case to us and having the abusers punished by law that the crimes can be stopped.'

Superintendent Chu said police often encountered difficulties in such investigations when parents refused to co-operate.

The Post  yesterday passed on to police information gathered during its investigation.

The director of Against Child Abuse, Priscilla Lui Tsang Sun-kai, said the Church owed the public an explanation. 'We have to know why the Church did not report them to the police. If the victims are not given assistance, they may in the future become abusers themselves.'

Police last night said they were investigating claims by a 26-year-old man who said he was abused by a trainee priest in 1991. The man told TVB Jade that he formally complained to police in 1999 but was told it was difficult to investigate due to the eight-year delay and a lack of evidence.

The man, identified only as Ah Lim, said he initially complained to the Church in 1992, but his abuser went on to become a priest in 1995. Police said they were checking whether the abuse claim was one of the three ruled upon by the Church.



Police probe child sex abuse by HK priests