HK principal jailed for groping teachers
The New Paper
Surrounded by press photographers, So wore a surgical mask to court yesterday
IN what a judge called 'a sad and painful' case, a Hong Kong principal was jailed for molesting his teachers.
So Yau Hang, 53, former headmaster of Yan Oi Tong Tin Ka Ping Primary School in Tseung Kwan, was accused of molesting four teachers between September 2000 and June last year.
So, who stepped down after charges were filed against him, was convicted of 10 counts of indecent assault.
Another three similar charges were taken into consideration for sentencing, reported Apple Daily.
So, a married man, was jailed 12weeks and fined $3,000.
Magistrate Gary Lam said yesterday that the teachers' statements were credible and that So had ruined his own reputation through his actions.
PENSION AT RISK
The criminal conviction could mean that So could lose his pension of HK$1million ($185,000).
But So's legal battle is not over yet - he is appealing the decision and is out on HK$20,000 bail.
During the court case, his victim,s all women, were identified as witnesses A, B, C and D.
Most of the incidents occurred in So's office, except for one that took place in Witness A's car, and another on a school staircase.
Witness A said that So had molested her several times over the years in his office.
Once, he put his arm around her waist and touched her panties, she said.
Another time, he flipped the band of her bra.
The same teacher accused So of touching her thigh as she drove to a school meeting.
She claimed that he also touched her buttocks 'to see what effect your gym work had on your bum'.
She added: 'It was the consensus among female teachers that they needed to wear jackets before entering the headmaster's room to protect themselves.'
Witness A didn't tell anyone at school about the molestations until January this year, when she approached schools' supervisor Dennis Tin Ding Sin.
She then made a police report together with other teachers.
So's lawyer Alan So said that Witness A was framing his client as she and Witness D had beem accused of cheating in an assessment of English-language competency.
The Education and Manpower Bureau confirmed that the school was investigated for cheating last year.
Mr So also argued that it was illogical for the victims to have tolerated the abuse for years.
But the magistrate disagreed, saying that he considered their complaints honest and reliable accounts.
FEAR
Witness B, who claimed that So had touched her twice on the neck or breast, admitted that she did not tell him to stop.
She claimed that she hadn't reported the incidents out of fear of putting her pupils in jeopardy and because it was 'a shameful thing to talk about'.
Mr Lam also noted that So's defence was that of a bare denial, and the fact that he resigned after being charged showed he was afraid of facing the music.
He also said had the teachers intended to malign So to get rid of him, they would have come up with a better story, reported South China Morning Post.
He added: 'Your behaviour is agonising as you have abused their trust and respect in you.
'You have disappointed your students and their parents when you should have been a role model and set an example (for them).'
