A 46-year-old father has been convicted of three child-abuse offences involving his daughters after a trial at Kowloon City Magistrates' Courts. The court found him guilty of two counts of assaulting a child in his care and one of neglect, all arising from events in October 2025. It acquitted him of a separate abuse charge and a charge of intending to obstruct justice.
The October charges followed an incident in which the prosecution said the girls came home an hour late and were made to stand outside their flat. It alleged that their father later made them stand outside again, punched one girl on the head and struck the other on the arm.
The acting magistrate criticised the officers who investigated a July disappearance involving one daughter, Y. Neither checked whether she had injuries. One officer also made no record of the investigation, including his questioning of her. The magistrate rejected aspects of the officers’ accounts, including their explanation that they had waited about 20 minutes before going to the flat; one officer, the magistrate said, could not explain the wait despite claiming to have no memory of it.
The court acquitted the father of the July-related abuse and obstruction charges because Y and her grandfather gave differing accounts of when police arrived, creating a reasonable doubt. The July allegations had included assaulting Y and telling her to give police a false explanation for her injuries.
The court rejected the father’s account of going promptly to look for his daughters after they left. CCTV showed him reaching the floor lobby about a minute after they had gone, returning to the flat, then leaving again about six minutes later. The magistrate found this inconsistent with his testimony.
Sentencing was adjourned to November 11, 2026, while the court awaits a probation report and trauma reports for both girls. The father was granted bail pending sentence.