The High Court on 27 August 2026 sentenced L.M.S. to eight years in prison after he admitted two counts of indecent assault and one count of rape involving his underage cousin. He was about 20 when the offences took place in 2023.
The victim was reported to have epilepsy and an intellectual disability or borderline intellectual ability. Reports described her capacity for self-care as similar to that of a 12-year-old child, but differed on whether she was 16 or 17 when the offences occurred.
The offences were reported to have taken place in late August 2023, with one account giving 28 August as the date. The locations included a staircase at a public housing estate in Shau Kei Wan and a flat in Sai Wan Ho. The reports said L.M.S. first indecently assaulted the victim in the staircase, then assaulted and raped her in the flat.
The judge said L.M.S. had used his position as the victim’s older male cousin and seriously breached the trust placed in him by her and her family. The court also considered that the offences involved different locations and a course of conduct lasting over a period of time.
Reports said the victim developed trauma-related symptoms after the sexual violence and was affected psychologically, physically, socially and in her self-esteem. The accounts differed in their description of the severity and specific symptoms, so the details were not uniform across reports.
L.M.S. surrendered to police after the offences. The judge said his remorse was doubtful and that, apart from the reduction for his guilty pleas, there were no other mitigating factors. The judge advised him to reflect while in prison and to stay away from pornographic or obscene material.