Hong Kong officer cleared in indecent assault case
HKFP · 1 SOURCESabout 1 hour ago2 MIN
Summary
A Hong Kong magistrate has found police officer Ng Ka-wai not guilty of indecent assault after ruling that the complainant’s evidence could not be accepted. The case arose from allegations that Ng touched a female informant’s thigh and opened a nude photo on her phone without consent at Tsim Sha Tsui Police Station on December 20 last year
Key Points
- Ng Ka-wai, 41, pleaded not guilty when he appeared at Kowloon City Magistrates’ Courts on Friday over one indecent assault charge
- The female informant had gone to the police station to report blackmail involving nude photos and an alleged HK$1.6 million fraud
- Prosecutors said police assigned Ng to help the informant give a statement after she reported being threatened with nude images sent through WhatsApp’s “View Once” feature
- The complainant alleged Ng opened one nude photo on her phone without permission and later touched her thigh three times while checking online bank statements with her
- Magistrate Arthur Lam said her courtroom account conflicted with her written statements, rejected her explanations as unconvincing, and acquitted Ng while awarding legal costs
Why It Matters
The ruling turned on the court’s assessment of witness credibility rather than a finding that the alleged conduct could never have happened, underscoring how consistency in statements can determine the outcome of criminal cases in Hong Kong. The case also drew attention because the allegations involved a serving police officer assisting a woman who had come to report blackmail and fraud at a police station