Bar Association broadly backs new offence for persistent child sexual abuse

The Hong Kong Bar Association has said it “broadly supports” a dedicated offence for persistent child sexual abuse, after concerns over evidential issues in such cases were resolved in other jurisdictions in the past two decades.Vice-chairman Martin Hui Siu-ting said that while the association had reversed previous reservations it expressed when the city last discussed such a proposal in 2001, the new offence would require safeguards to ensure both sides were treated fairly at trial.“We broadly agree to the introduction of such an offence of persistent child sexual abuse, which somehow reflects the past experience of at least 20 years of different jurisdictions within the criminal system,” Hui said.