Police arrested a 73-year-old man yesterday in connection with sex offences against four schoolgirls in Kwun Tong, but have been accused of compromising public safety by delaying warnings of the incidents.
The man was arrested in Tsui Ping Road, Kwun Tong, by officers investigating an indecent assault on two of the schoolgirls on Tuesday and an attempted assault on the other two on Wednesday. The girls were aged between 12 and 17.
Details were not disclosed until Saturday when police appealed for information to find the attacker.
The Hong Kong Journalists Association accused the police of ignoring the safety of residents by delaying their warning about the offences.
Similar criticism was raised earlier this month after investigators took six days to warn about knife attacks on four pedestrians in Tseung Kwan O.
'The government covers up such crimes in an attempt to use residents as bait to make arrest,' lawmaker Cyd Ho Sau-lan said.
The chairman of the Police Inspectors Association, Chief Inspector Benjamin Tsang Chiu-fo, said police should treat public interest and safety as top priority. 'Regarding these two cases in Tseung Kwan O and Kwun Tong from the public point of view, I also feel that it is difficult to understand,' he said, adding that he was 'a bit unhappy' about the delay.