Hong Kong authorities have sped up the investigation and prosecution of more than 200 serious child abuse cases over the past two years under efforts by an interdepartmental task force that made earlier intervention by government lawyers easier.
Among the cases examined by the Vulnerable Victims and Child Protection Task Force was a high-profile one in 2021 involving 34 individuals charged with child abuse linked to a scandal at a children’s care home.
The task force reported on Thursday it had handled more than 200 serious and complex child abuse cases since its establishment in 2022. They ranged from institutional child abuse to organised prostitution concerning minors and cases involving fatalities, it said.
Unlike other criminal cases where police would hand over a completed investigation file to the Department of Justice for legal advice, the task force helped prosecutors and officers cooperate from the start of the case to the finish.
Once police reports were handed over to the task force, a prosecutor and an officer teamed up to oversee the case, enabling government lawyers to advise police as they gathered evidence and questioned witnesses.
“With the task force, we will try our best to give early legal advice on what needs to be covered and how to present the evidence, how to ask questions in an organised manner,” Human Lam, a senior public prosecutor, said.
Lam said it was often difficult to get young victims to give a clear and convincing testimony in court due to their relatively limited language skills and a lack of life experience.
