University of Hong Kong student remanded, awaits sentencing for molesting schoolmate
- Court rejects claims by Poon Kai-yiu, 21, that complainant ‘showed affection’ for him, and will pass sentence on September 3
A student at the University of Hong Kong has been remanded in custody to await sentencing for molesting a woman schoolmate at a residential hall more than two years ago.
Eastern Court on Tuesday convicted Poon Kai-yiu of two counts of indecent assault after dismissing as incredible his claim that he had mistakenly believed the woman had feelings for him and would welcome his sexual advances.
The court also found the defendant’s assertion against the complainant – saying she had lied in her testimony in order to frame him while claiming she “showed affection” for him – to be contradictory.
Poon, 21, was a Year Three student of the global creative industries programme when he attacked the woman, then in her fourth year, at Lee Shau Kee Hall on New Year’s Eve of 2021.
The trial heard Poon, who had just entered the varsity after receiving an associate degree, met the woman during an orientation event that summer where she was a group leader responsible for organising and coordinating activities.
He and a few other residents of the hall went to her room in the early hours of December 31 for a drinking party to bid her farewell.