A 41-year-old local man working as a tutor at a private tutorial centre was arrested on Thursday for having sex with a then 15-year-old boy several times in 2020 after they met on a social media app earlier that year, PJ spokesman Chan Wun Man announced during a special press conference on Friday.
The case only came to light after the boy told his school in February this year about the incident, the police then arrested the suspect, surnamed Leong, last week after an investigation.
Leong was sentenced to nine months in prison for child sexual abuse in 2017, but the prison term was suspended for two years.
According to Chan, the boy’s school, which is located in the peninsula’s central district, reported the case to the Judiciary Police on February 11 this year.
The schoolboy met Leong on a social media app in early 2020, Chan said, adding that the boy told Leong how old he was during their chats.
In the summer holiday that year, Leong proposed that they meet at a shopping centre in the peninsula’s central district, to which the schoolboy agreed, Chan said.
In the shopping centre, Leong took the boy to a toilet, took off his clothing, and had sex with him in a cubicle. However, according to Chan, the boy did not resist “out of curiosity”.
In addition, Chan said, Leong also took photos and videos of him having sex with the schoolboy.
Later during the summer holiday, Chan said, Leong went to the boy’s home in the Avenida de Horta e Costa neighbourhood twice – when the boy’s family members were not there, and had sex with him.
In February last year, Chan said, Leong told the schoolboy to have an online naked chat with him. Later that year, Chan said, the boy became “disgusted” with Leong, and blocked Leong on social media.
However, according to Chan, the schoolboy only told a social worker at his school in February this year about what Leong had done.
Consequently, the school reported the case to the Judiciary Police’s Youth Concern Group, Chan said.
After investigating, PJ officers identified Leong as the suspect, after which they arrested Leong in the peninsula’s northern district on Thursday last week, Chan said.
Under questioning by the police, Leong admitted to having had sex with the boy. The police also confirmed that Leong was sentenced to nine months in prison for child sexual abuse in 2017, but the prison term was suspended for two years.
According to Chan, Leong had worked for a private tutorial centre in the peninsula’s northern district before his arrest. The schoolboy was not a student of the tutorial centre.
Leong has been transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) for further questioning, facing a charge of sex with a minor aged at least 14 but under 16, and a charge of pornography involving minors.
According to Article 168 of the Macau Penal Code, a person who has had sex, namely vaginal intercourse, anal sex, and oral sex, with a minor aged at least 14 but under 16 faces a prison term of up to four years. Article 168 also covers the situation in which the offender inserts an object, or any particular part of their body, into the minor’s vagina or anus.
According to the Penal Code, the age of consent starts at 16.
According to Article 170-A of the Penal Code, a charge of pornography involving minors carries a prison term of up to five years.
