Advertisement
Advertisement
Crime in Hong Kong
Get more with myNEWS
A personalised news feed of stories that matter to you
Learn more
Child abuse allegations at this Mong Kok facility have prompted an internal probe at the Social Welfare Department. Photo: Google

‘Angry and heartbroken’: Hong Kong welfare chief orders investigation as 2 formally charged in child abuse chase

  • Secretary for Labour and Welfare Law Chi-kwong says Social Welfare Department will look into whether staff is inadequately monitored, warns accused can be deregistered
  • In appearance at Kwun Tong Court, one of two defendants charged on Sunday weeps as allegations against her are read out
Hong Kong’s Social Welfare Department has been ordered to launch an internal investigation into an abuse case that saw three child care workers arrested last week, the minister who oversees it has said, warning those involved could be deregistered.

Saying the incident had left him angry and heartbroken, Secretary for Labour and Welfare Law Chi-kwong on Sunday took to his official blog to say he had demanded the probe, which would also look into inadequate monitoring of staff at the Hong Kong Society for the Protection of Children (HKSPC).

Law’s remarks came just days after police revealed that three employees of the HKSPC, a long-established child protection group in Hong Kong, had been arrested over the abuse and neglect of at least 18 toddlers, including yanking their hair, hitting their heads, slapping their faces and tossing them on the floor.

The three women face up to a decade behind bars. Two of them were taken to Kwun Tong Court on Sunday morning where they were each charged with assault by those in charge of a child. They were identified only by their initials to protect the victims’ identities.

Secretary for Labour and Welfare Law Chi-kwong on Sunday said recent child abuse allegations had left him heartbroken and angry. Photo: Felix Wong

The duo, aged 44 and 23 respectively, stood accused of wilfully assaulting two three-year-old boys at the childcare facility in a manner likely to cause them unnecessary suffering. The older of the two defendants put her head down and wept as the allegations were read to her in the dock.

Magistrate May Chung Ming-sun released the pair on HK$10,000 (US$1,280) bail each on condition they obey a travel ban and report to police twice a week. She also barred them from setting foot in the involved children’s home, contacting any of its members or engaging in any childcare services.

The two will appear again in Kowloon City Court on February 21. The third woman detained on Wednesday, aged 23, was granted police bail but must report to officers next month.

The force made the arrests after reviewing surveillance footage from an HKSPC children’s home in Mong Kok last Friday and identifying seven victims – six boys and a girl, aged two to three.

3 workers from Hong Kong child protection group held over abuse of 18 toddlers

A police source said officers then looked at footage from December 11 to 16 and identified another 11 victims, aged between one and three. All of the alleged abuse took place during the day on an outdoor playground.

On Friday, the HKSPC said it had fired staff involved in the case and also filed a police report. Police said a resident in the neighbourhood had tipped off authorities after witnessing the alleged abuse.

Law on Sunday noted that all child care centres and their staff members were required to be registered with the government.

“The director of social welfare is empowered to deregister a child care worker if he considers the worker no longer suitable to be involved in child care activities,” he said.

Child abuse cases in Hong Kong up 66 per cent in first 9 months of 2021

In a Facebook post on Saturday, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Yuet-ngor called the incident terrible. “It makes one’s hair stand up in great anger,” she wrote.

Lam said the government would table proposals to step up child protection, including introducing legislation on mandatory reporting of child abuse cases, to the Legislative Council as soon as possible.

The number of child abuse cases reported in Hong Kong in the first nine months of the year jumped 66 per cent compared with the same period in 2020 – from 525 to 871, according to police.

Cases of physical abuse, such as beatings, surged 70 per cent, from 262 to 444.

About 130 of those cases involved children aged five and below.

Authorities attributed the increase to the coronavirus pandemic, with a weaker economy creating more stress at home and children spending less time at school.

5