A 25-year-old carer from the scandalous Hong Kong Society for the Protection of Children was on Friday jailed for nine months, with the judge saying she was lying to herself and sugar-coating her child abuse crimes by claiming that she was only playing with the kid at the time.
Defendant Lau Lo-ki had earlier pleaded not guilty to ill-treatment or neglect towards children, but was convicted by magistrate Andrew Mok Tze-chung in Kowloon City Court this morning.
The charge accused Lau of intentionally attacking a one-year-old boy “AJ” at the society's Children Residential Home on Portland Street in Mong Kok on December 9, 2021.
According to the prosecution, Lau kicked at the boy's face, stomach, and hip, and threw a ball at him. Lau also pinned AJ onto the cushion on the ground and pulled his pants from behind, causing him to fall. Lau hit AJ's head with her knee eight times as well.
When passing down the sentence, Mok criticized Lau for her self-deception as Lau sugar-coated her crimes by saying she was playing with the boy and wanted to restrain the boy from performing dangerous actions.
Mok referred to security camera footage that Lau applied great forces when “playing with” the kid. He added if that could be counted as playing, it was the boy being bullied and played like a toy by Lau.
Mok rejected Lau explaining that it was the society's “work culture” to treat every kid coldly and rudely so that they wouldn't become dependent on the carers. He continued that if every carer treats children with love, there won't be any problem for kids in getting used to a different carer.
The judge also believed that such behaviors or the existence of this so-called “work culture” must not be tolerated by the care home's management, as he put Lau behind bars for nine months.
