- When they met for the first time after connecting online, the girl told him she was 18 and they had sex
- When she finally admitted she was 12, he stayed in city to face consequences
A mainland Chinese man who flew to Hong Kong to pursue a cyber-romance was jailed for 10 months on Tuesday after his supposedly 22-year-old girlfriend turned out to be 12.
Shanghai interior designer Lu Wei, 28, came to the city last year to meet the girl, whom he had met playing games online, the District Court heard.
Only after things had turned intimate did he learn that the girl, who had told him she was 22, was actually a decade younger.
The court heard he decided to stay in the city and accept his punishment, despite having already bought a ticket home.
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He was sentenced on Tuesday after pleading guilty earlier to two counts of unlawful sex with a girl under 13, which carry a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
Judge Katherine Lo Kit-yee said she accepted Lu's genuine remorse after listening to his explanation.
"The defendant could have absconded and avoided the legal consequences, but he did not," she said.
That showed Lu, who said he really loved the girl before knowing her real age, had never wanted to exploit the underage woman, she said.
The court heard Lu met the girl, referred to in court as X, while playing an online game in 2018. She claimed to be 22 years old. Their romance quickly developed over Chinese messaging app WeChat.
In December, Lu flew to Hong Kong to visit X. On December 22, and the day that followed, they had sex at the Regal Oriental Hotel in Kowloon City, where Lu was staying.
According to Lu, X confessed to him after his arrival that she was not as old as she had claimed. She reached 18 shortly before they met, she told him.
But on December 24, when X sent him off at the airport, she told him she was only 12.
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The court heard Lu, who described himself as "a law-abiding citizen", decided to stay behind and face the consequences.
The designer had not been successful in his previous relationships, the court heard, because girlfriends either left him because of his meagre salary or his long working hours.
He wanted a stable relationship with X because he was attracted to her personality, before knowing that she was a minor, he said.
Lo said she noted X looked more mature than her age.
"This court would not doubt when she said she was 18, (the defendant) took her word for it without query," she said.
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