A 70-year-old local man exposed his private parts to a girl in a recreational area in Fai Chi Kei as a way of venting his anger last week after a quarrel with his wife, according to a Public Security Police (PSP) spokesperson.
After his arrest, the suspect surnamed Leong told the police that he’s retired.
The spokesperson told a regular press conference on Friday that the girl, whose age was not revealed, was playing in the recreational area’s playground in Praça das Orquídeas in Fai Chi Kei district at around 4 p.m. on Tuesday last week when the man suddenly pulled down his fly zipper and exposed his genitals to her.
Frightened, the girl ran to her mother who was also in the recreational area and told her about it. The woman tried to give chase and stop the man, who was quickly leaving the scene, but she was unable to catch him. The woman reported the case to the police, the spokesperson said.
Praça das Orquídeas is surrounded by three residential estates, Van Sion Son Chun, Chino Plaza and The Praia, in south Fai Chi Kei – which is near Lam Mau Tong district.
After scrutinising CCTV footage from nearby shops and the police forces’ citywide CCTV camera system, PSP officers discovered that the man had got on his scooter that he had parked in the nearby Rua da Bacia Sul and driven away, the spokesperson said.
PSP officers identified Leong as the man by the scooter’s vehicle registration plate and arrested him in his home in Avenida do Dr. Francisco Vieira Machado in Areia Preta district later the same day, the spokesperson said.
Under questioning, Leong admitted to having exposed his genitals to the girl. Leong told the police that he was unhappy after a quarrel with his wife earlier that day so that he vented his anger by exposing his private parts in a public area, according to the spokesperson.
The police later discovered that they had filed a criminal complaint against Leong on an alleged act of exhibitionism in 2010. Leong had exposed his genitals to a male passer-by in the street in 2016 and was then warned by police officers who happened to be on patrol there, according to the spokesperson.
This time, Leong has been transferred to the Public Prosecution Office (MP) for further questioning, facing a possible charge of sexual abuse of children, the spokesperson said.
According to previous police announcements, a person exposing their private parts to others usually face an exhibitionism charge, which carries a prison term of up to one year, according to Article 165 of the Macau Penal Code.
Article 166 of the Macau Penal Code – sexual abuse of children – covers any kinds of sex acts involving minors aged below the age of 14.
Article 166 states that a person who has had sexual contact with a minor under the age of 14, or has conducted sexual acts in front of them, faces a prison term of between one and eight years.
According to Article 166, the offender faces a prison term of between three and 10 years if the offender engages in sexual intercourse, anal sex or oral sex with the minor, or if the offender inserts an object, or any particular part of their body, into the minor’s vagina or anus.
This handout photo provided by the Public Security Police (PSP) on Friday shows two PSP officers escorting the suspect facing a child sexual abuse charge into a PSP minivan near his home in Areia Preta on Tuesday last week.
