Crime | Police reports indicate sexual harassment cases on the rise

Cases of sexual crimes have been reportedly growing in Macau over the last few months. In one case, a local 20-year-old woman filed a sexual harassment complaint against a local driving instructor for two incidents earlier this month

Cases of sexual crimes have been reportedly growing in Macau over the last few months. During yesterday’s joint press conference from the police forces, held at the Public Security Police Force (PSP) facilities, the same force reported two more cases, one related to “sexual harassment” and another to “indecent exposure.”

Additionally, the Judiciary Police (PJ) used the same opportunity to report a case on sexual activities but, this time, in relation to an alleged criminal organization that was found to be exploiting prostitution in Macau.

Driving instructor behaves inappropriately

In the first case, reported by the PSP, a local 20-year-old woman filed a sexual harassment complaint against a local driving instructor, a man over 60 years old.

The woman said to the police that the man had on several occasions touched her thighs, waist, and breasts during the driving classes, adding that on one of the occasions, he tried to force her hand onto his sexual organ.

The harassment had reportedly occurred on two different occasions on August 18 and then on August 20.

According to the report to the PSP, the suspect touched the woman while she was driving the car around Estrada da Ponta da Cabrita in Taipa.

The woman finally disclosed the incidents to her parents who prompted her to file the complaint.

The police detained the suspect on August 24 around 5 p.m. at the Border Gate checkpoint.

Upon questioning, the man admitted to having touched the woman but said it was accidental and not intentional, explaining that he wanted to see if she had driven the car over the road line so he leaned his body on top of her lap to reach for the driver’s door and open it to check.

According to the PSP spokesperson, the provided explanation and reported frequency of such incidents made the man’s account of events seem implausible, particularly as his only explanation for the moment when the woman accused him of trying to force her hand into his pants was that he was “just kidding.”

The PSP said that there is enough evidence to send the case to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) under the charge of sexual harassment.

Areia Preta exhibitionist caught again

In the second case reported by the PSP, a male over 20 years, said to be a caretaker at a building condominium, was arrested for the indecent exposure of his genitals to a woman at the Areia Preta Urban Park.

The victim reported the case to the PSP around midnight yesterday saying that while she was resting in the garden area, a man who was wandering around suddenly smiled at her and then exposed his genitals to her by masturbating in front of her.

The police started a search for the suspect, finding someone who matched the victim’s description around an hour later.

Brought into the police station, the man confessed to the crime saying that he had done it because he felt “lustful” towards her.

During the investigation, the police also found out that the same man had been detained previously back in 2016 for the same crime.

He was sent to the MP and charged with indecent exposure.

Pair linked to prostitution ring

Earlier in the same press conference, the PJ spokesperson had reported that the force had received a report over the unlawful activities of one 33-year-old male from the mainland that led to his detention and the detention of an 18-year-old female accomplice in a prostitution exploitation case.

The victim, a 27-year-old woman (also from the mainland) who met the man on the internet in June, reported the case.

She told the police that the man offered to help her to come to Macau to perform prostitution-related activities.

Under the agreement, any money made from the arrangement would firstly be held by the man who would later share it with the woman, taking a share for himself.

According to the victim, since she accepted the deal, she had come to Macau on four different occasions to offer prostitution services, charging between HKD1,000 and 1,500 to each client. According to her calculations, she should have earned around HKD80,000.

On August 18, she came once more to Macau but felt unwell and wanted to stop the activity. She approached the man and asked for her share of the money but he refused to give it to her, and she pressed charges against him.

The PJ then deployed officers to a hotel room reported by the victim, where they found the man and the woman.

Taken to the PJ headquarters, they confessed to the crime.

According to further investigation by the PJ, it is suspected that such criminal organization includes another two suspects still at large.

The pair detained will be accused of holding and managing a criminal organization with the purpose of exploiting prostitution.