Repeat child abuser who exploited loophole to molest girl during 2022 volunteering stint at Hong Kong community centre handed 2-year sentence
- Ching Ka-lun assaulted six-year-old girl in the presence of other female instructors at a community centre on October 12, 2022
- The 36-year-old was first convicted in 2015 for assaulting two girls, aged six to 11, and possessing child pornography photos and videos
A sex offender has been sentenced to two years in jail for exploiting a loophole in a background check scheme to molest a six-year-old girl while volunteering at a Hong Kong community centre last year.
Deputy judge David Ko Wai-hung told the District Court on Monday that Ching Ka-lun, 36, might have knowingly circumvented the administrative safeguards against child sex offenders to approach minors again after his first conviction in 2015.
Ko urged the authorities to expand background checks to anyone working with children and the mentally vulnerable, regardless of the nature of their job.
“I understand that in enacting the protocol, considerations were given to strike a balance between protecting children and safeguarding personal privacy and encouraging more people to take up voluntary work, but the present case shows the protocol indeed has loopholes,” the deputy judge said.
The Sexual Conviction Record Check Scheme, introduced in 2011, allows employers to conduct background checks on new hires provided companies can prove to police their work is related to children or mentally incapacitated people.
