Carer jailed 2.5 years for 11 counts of child abuse committed in three weeks

A 64-year-old carer from the scandalous Hong Kong Society for the Protection of Children was on Tuesday jailed for two-and-a-half years for 11 counts of child abuse which all occurred in three weeks. 

In District Court today, the defendant Fung Fung-ho pleaded guilty to assaulting 11 toddlers, including six boys, three girls and two unidentified children, between November 18 and December 13, 2021. 

The toddlers were aged one to three at the time. Four other counts of child abuse were left on court file. 

District judge Edmond Lee Chun-man noted the serious nature of the case as the repeated assaults occurred in just three weeks, which was worse than an isolated incident. 

Lee added the toddlers were very young and couldn’t complaint. He also highlighted that Fung threw a three-year-old boy “D” on the mat multiple times and made him landed in his head and back. 

Fung also hit one-year-old boy “R” using a plastic pole, which drew other children to copy her behaviors. Lee continued that Fung performing inappropriate behaviors in front of the children would shock and scare them as well. 

In other assaults, Fung also slapped a child in the head, dragged a child on the ground, covered a child’s face with her hand for about seven seconds, and pulled a child’s hair. 

Although the defense said Fung’s workload increased significantly and she became stressed during the pandemic, Lee pointed out that the toddlers’ behaviors were minor issues, which shouldn’t trouble a carer and driver her out of control. 

Given Fung’s guilty plea, Lee finally sentenced her to 30-month imprisonment.