7-year-old falls victim to sex offense

The Secretary for Security, Wong Sio Chak, revealed to the parliament that a seven-year-old child has fallen victim in a sex offense.

When questioned by lawmakers about sex offenses in the city, Wong disclosed that in the first nine months of this year, there were 24 reported cases, marking an increase year-on-year. Of these, 15 involved sexual harassment cases minor in nature, while nine involved voluntary sexual activities between partners.

Wong highlighted the need for collective societal efforts to combat sexual offenses targeting youths.

He also disclosed that in the first nine months of this year, there were 74 instances of youth delinquency – 28 more than the corresponding period last year. These included 27 fights and 12 thefts.

Lawmaker Kou Kam Fai asked whether fraud victims themselves became perpetrators. In response, Wong said he felt “grieved” by the scenario. He added that this “chain action” did not only concern youths, but also adults. Many were coerced into swindling others to recover their lost funds.

In addition, many such victim-turn-suspects were highly educated.

“There were even PhD holders,” the secretary disclosed. “Many of these victims disregard the government’s warnings, because they think they will not fall victim to scams.”

The Secretary said the government would consider methods to enhance education and awareness campaigns to prevent scams.

On sham marriage, Wong said there were cases in which individuals guilty of this offense had their Macau ID revoked. “The key is the verdict,” Wong said. Regarding punishments for drug matters, Wong said Macau and mainland China have different legal systems, so the severity of punishments cannot be directly compared.