Hong Kong detective jailed for raping woman in police station

HONG KONG - A Hong Kong detective was jailed Friday for 12 years for raping a teenage girl and molesting three other victims, aged 16 to 21, in the identity parade room of a police station.

Leung Lai-chung, 30, used the police computer to contact female victims of crimes and then invited them back to the police station on false pretences, Hong Kong’s High Court heard.

He attacked them in the city’s Mongkok police station over a 10-day period in November, raping a 19-year-old woman who had reported a lost purse and sexually assaulting the three others.

Leung was convicted of rape and sexual assault at an earlier hearing, at which his lawyer said the offences took place when his client was facing extreme work and family pressures.

Leung had initially only intended to ask the girls and women out on dates but had been unable to control his lust, his lawyer argued.

Jailing Leung after studying psychiatric reports, a judge said Friday that his behaviour had damaged the reputation of Hong Kong’s police force and that there was a clear risk of him offending again.