The Court of First Instance (TJB) has sentenced a male tutor from Hong Kong working at a local private tuition centre to a prison term of 18 years and six months for repeatedly sexually abusing at least six schoolboys enrolled in the centre since he started working there in 2016 until he was arrested by the Judiciary Police (PJ) in November last year.
The 36-year-old defendant, surnamed Tam, was found guilty of sexual abuse of children and sexual coercion on Friday when the court announced the ruling.
Tam separately forced the victims to perform oral sex on him, to masturbate in front of him, and to masturbate him. Judge Chou Im Peng noted during Friday’s session that Tam admitted most of the allegations against him during the trial.
The female judge said that due to the multiple cases Tam could have faced a prison term of between six and 30 years. The judge said that she decided to sentence the defendant to a prison term of 18 years and six months. According to the Macau Post Daily, she noted that Tam, as a tutor, failed to look after the pupils properly, and even sexually abused them.
According to the Macau Penal Code, 30 years is the maximum sentence.
According to previous police announcements, Tam told the victims – one at a time – to come to the tuition centre earlier than scheduled so that he could sexually abuse them before the classes began. The victims were aged between 14 and 15.
The Education and Youth Affairs Bureau (DSEJ) cancelled the centre’s operating licence following Tam’s arrest.
