Hong Kong court jails man, 77, for 18 years after he repeatedly raped young daughter
- Father said jury’s verdict was wrong and called reporters ‘dumb idiots’ for ignoring his version of events
A 77-year-old man found guilty of repeatedly raping his young daughter was jailed for 18 years on Tuesday.
The man, named only as Y.H.L. in court to protect his daughter’s identity, had condemned the jury’s verdict last month as “wrong” and called reporters “dumb idiots” for ignoring his version of events as he insisted he never raped the child.
He demanded Mr Justice Andrew Chan Hing-wai “implement the common law system” in which the prosecution is required to prove its case against him beyond any reasonable doubt.
“That is a high standard,” the man said through a Mandarin interpreter. “I did not rape my daughter. Think about it yourself carefully.”
Judge silences man, 77, found guilty of raping young daughter
The father, who had defended himself without a lawyer in court, was convicted by a seven-member jury on three counts of rape following a 23-day trial that concluded last month.
The High Court heard that the part-time security guard began sexually assaulting his then 10-year-old daughter in 2015 while his wife, 20 years his junior, was away from home.
The child shouted and cried in pain, but was silenced by her father, who warned her not to tell anyone.
The defendant not only did not love his daughter, he caused her to suffer grave harm
Since then, the assaults had happened “almost every Saturday” until February last year, when the victim’s mother found out and went to police.
When asked to advance mitigation on Tuesday, the father said: “You decide. I’m definitely appealing.”
The judge said the man knew his daughter was an introverted child completely obedient to him, yet he committed a “beastly act” to breach the trust placed in him and repeatedly raped her.
“A father’s first God-given duty is to love and protect his children from unnecessary harm,” Chan continued. “The defendant not only did not love his daughter, he caused her to suffer grave harm.”
Chan also slammed the man for his lack of remorse, shown in his attempts to prevent his wife and daughter from testifying, and ordered police and prosecutors to look into whether further crimes – such as contempt of court and perverting the course of justice – had been committed.
Rape is punishable by life imprisonment.
