HONG KONG: Five teenage boys will serve custodial sentences in either detention or rehabilitation centers for their involvement in a sexual assault on a 14-year-old girl, who allegedly was set up for the attack by one of her girlfriends.

Lined up in the dock, the boys heard parental pleas read out on their behalf by respective defense counsel. Uniformly the pleas asked that the court show leniency and give the offenders a "second chance", because of their youth. Addressing the courtroom packed with the families and guardians of the boys, Deputy Judge Johnny Chan said the custodial sentences would "give disciplinary training so that the (defendants) would learn how to behave properly in society and respect the rule of law."

He said the youths had committed a serious crime involving a young victim. Although they were entitled to a second chance they still had to be punished and to be made examples as a deterrent to others, he added.

Huen Yuen-shing, 16, Ngai Hong-kit, 18, and Cheung Ngai, 16, have been ordered to serve no more than six months at detention centers.

Sixteen-year-old Dicky Lai Yin-tat and Cheung Chun-kit, 17, were ordered to rehabilitation center terms. Those terms may be one and a half years to two years based on their performance.

Sentencing for Chan Ming-kin, 17, has been adjourned to February 8, pending further probation reports.

Some parents submitted that their own shortcomings may have led to the boys' misbehavior. The six faced charges of indecent conduct towards a child under the age of 16 as well as aiding, abetting, procuring, counseling or procuring sexual intercourse with a child under the age of 16.

Cheung Ngai, Chan and Huen had previously been charged with rape, and with Cheung Chun-kit, had admitted to some of the indecent assault and unlawful sex charges while the rest pleaded not guilty to all charges.

The trial started with eight defendants in total. A 15-year-old female classmate of the victim, who was initially accused of luring the 14-year-old into the sex trap was acquitted along with her 15-year-old boyfriend.

The court heard the victim, identified as X, left school in the afternoon of March 27 last year after saying she felt unwell. She met up with the female defendant and four of the boys at a youth center.

She was joined by three other boys when the group went to a vacant recycling depot in Sai Wan Ho.

The court heard the group played rock, paper, scissor games over drinks where winners could demand losers remove an article of clothing or submit to touching.

Becoming the focus of the group's sexual advances, X was then approached by the boyfriend of the female classmate who then forced her to perform oral sex on him in plain sight.

X was then held down by some of the defendants while others touched her and removed her clothes before three of them had sex with her despite her struggle.

X's ordeal surfaced when she reported the incident to a school social worker who called police.

(HK Edition 01/26/2010 page1)