The middle-aged waiter was involved in a “massage” for a friend’s 10-year-old daughter at the residence in December last year, and reached into the girl’s clothes to sweep and pinches her breasts. He was convicted today (15th) in the West Kowloon Court following denying the charge and went on trial. Magistrate Shi Zuyao refused to accept the defendant’s testimony, citing inconsistencies in his statement, and reprimanded the defendant for reaching out to the girl without consent He was sentenced to 1 year in prison for massaging his breasts under his underwear. When sentencing, it was revealed that the defendant had committed manslaughter. He was sentenced to 18 years in prison in 2004 and released in 2011.
Defendant Liang Shengzu (48 years old, waiter) was charged with indecently assaulting a 10-year-old girl X in a unit in Tin Shui Wai on December 4, 2021.
Magistrate says girl X’s reaction is reasonable
Shi Guan quoted the defense as saying that following X claimed that he had been molested, he not only stayed at the defendant’s home for dinner, but also did not inform the people around him regarding the incident on the same day, questioning that it was different from the normal response to being molested. However, Guan Shi believes that X was only 10 years old at the time of the crime, and his reaction and cognition were different from those of adults, so he might not expect to be resisted when his shirt was removed. In addition, the defendant had known X’s family for many years, and the defendant believed in X. Therefore, X’s reaction at that time was reasonable, and he believed that X’s confession was clear and reasonable, and there were no contradictions.
The magistrate continued to point out that the defendant said in the interview record that he did not massage X; in court, he changed his words to massage, but did not touch X’s chest. The defendant argued that he did not massage X seriously at the time of the crime, so he thought it was an unreasonable person. Massage is not a massage, and Shi Guan denounced his statement as inconsistent on key plot points. Another defendant claimed that he only massaged with his hands for a while, and then used his feet to step on X’s back. However, the judge believed that even if X was young, he might distinguish between hands and feet, and questioned how foot massage might make children comfortable. In order to achieve the effect that the defendant claimed to want to quiet the child. Shi Guan pointed out that the defendant’s confession was unreasonable and refused to accept his confession.
Defendant was jailed for 18 years for manslaughter and was released in 2011
Shi Guan continued to point out that although the defendant, as a male, received consent to massage, he reached into X underwear to massage his chest without consent. His behavior completely exceeded the boundary between massage and entertainment, and he was finally convicted. Taking into account the 38-year age gap between the defendant and X, X called the defendant “grandfather”, which shows that he regarded him as an elder, but the defendant took advantage of X’s trust to commit the crime. The other defendant was convicted of manslaughter in 2004 and has now served his sentence. Although the court will not aggravate his criminal responsibility in this case, it cannot be expected that the court will deal with it in a lenient way, and the defendant will be sentenced to 12 months in prison.
It is reported that the manslaughter committed by the defendant was the sensational “Hello Kitty Hidden Body Case”. After trial, he was convicted of manslaughter in 2000 and sentenced to life in prison along with the other two defendants. The defendant then appealed and the case was remanded for retrial. He pleaded guilty instead at a retrial in 2004 and was sentenced to 18 years in prison before being released in 2011.
Case number: WKCC 977/2022
