A 12-YEAR-OLD girl may have ''readily and happily embraced'' suggestions that she become a prostitute, the District Court heard yesterday. Judge Jackson said there was no compelling evidence that the young girl was forced into prostitution by her friends. At most, she had been a willing participant in their money-making scheme. The judge acquitted Tong Ka-man, 23, and Wong Ho-tai, 17, of conspiring to procure a woman under 21 and living on the earnings of prostitution. He said contradictory testimony was a major reason for the acquittal. It had been the Crown's case that Ms Tong persuaded the 12-year-old to start taking on ''customers'', telling her she could make up to $18,000 for her first time. ''She [Ms Tong] asked me to receive customers,'' the girl testified. ''I paused to consider the matter for a while and I agreed.'' A week later, the court heard, Ho-tai and another man introduced the girl to a 47-year-old man. The girl had sexual intercourse with the man, who had indirectly paid $18,000 to Ms Tong.
