A former Catholic priest who was jailed for sexually abusing an altar boy said yesterday he was sure he now had a 'bright future'.
Speaking on his release after serving almost three years of a four-and-a-half-year sentence, Michael Lau Ka-yee said he wanted to put the past behind him.
The priest-turned-insurance-agent led the media on a one-hour chase across Hong Kong after leaving Stanley Prison, but finally stopped to talk in the Mongkok MTR station.
'I have not thought about my future, but I am sure my future will be bright,' he said.
'I really appreciate the media for their coverage of the incident. I understand you have your job to do, but I do not want to talk about what happened in the past. I just want to say I am free now and I am happy. I am safe and sound.'
The release of Mr Lau, who had left the clergy before he was arrested and convicted, came as the church was finalising new guidelines to deal with any similar cases.
Mr Lau was convicted in February 2003 of two charges of indecent assault, one of gross indecency and another of attempted buggery over incidents in January 1991 and July 1992 at his quarters at St Joseph's Catholic Church and the Anglo-Chinese Primary School in Ngau Tau Kok.