Brother jailed five years for sex assaults on triplet sisters

A man who, as a teenager, sexually assaulted his triplet sisters when they were aged between 10 and 13 years old was jailed for five years yesterday for what a judge described as a serious crime that attracted public disgust.

Mr Justice Patrick Li Hon-leung said the man - who was not named to protect the identity of the victims - would have been jailed for 10 years had he not been under 16 when the offences were committed.

Now 20, the brother was convicted of seven counts of indecent assault and one of attempted rape against his three sisters between 2005 and 2008.

The man, a year older than the triplets, had pleaded not guilty.

The judge said it was a tragic and serious case involving a brother preying on his siblings.

"Had he committed the offences at the age of 16, he would have been sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment," the judge said.

He also noted that had the man been arrested earlier, he would have been tried in a juvenile court, where the maximum sentence is three years.

"The sentence must be serious enough to reflect public disgust at sexual offences of this nature," the judge said in passing sentence.

Li also criticised the parents for ignoring the girls' pleas.

The court earlier heard that the triplets told their mother of the incidents but she accused them of lying. "Even animals love their children. I do not understand why there are parents who do not love their children in Hong Kong," Li said.

The court heard that the victims suffered from serious post-traumatic disorder and were prone to self-harm and suicide.