A 68-year-old man who pleaded guilty to indecently assaulting his 71-year-old former sister-in-law was jailed for 20 months after a court found that he exploited her vulnerability and seriously breached the trust of his guardianship.
The offence happened on 16 August 2024, after L. H. Y. collected X from her residential care home for a meal. He took her to his home in Tseung Kwan O, where he shaved her pubic hair with a razor and touched her genital area before returning her to the care home that night.
Care-home staff discovered the following day, while bathing X, that her pubic hair had been shaved. X told them that L. H. Y. had done it in a bedroom at his home.
The relationship between the pair was central to the sentence. X was described as having moderate intellectual disability and cognitive impairment, with limited ability to understand or protect herself. L. H. Y. became her legal guardian after his wife died in 2012. The sentencing judge found that he had used X’s dependence and vulnerability and seriously breached the trust attached to his role.
A trauma report said X became distressed after losing opportunities to go out for visits following the incident. She had since adjusted to the arrangements, but care-home staff were told to watch for signs of distress that might be difficult to detect.
The judge gave limited consideration to a psychological report recording that L. H. Y. told a psychologist he wanted to have sex with X and had used the shaving to seek sexual stimulation. The prosecution said this was his statement and was not part of the factual basis admitted for the conviction.
The court treated the offence against a mentally incapable person and the abuse of the guardian relationship as aggravating factors. It set a 30-month starting point and reduced that term to 20 months after taking his guilty plea into account on 21 September 2026.