A secondary school teacher who paid teenage boys for sex was sent to prison for 44 months Thursday.

Lee Tak-fai, a 40-year-old liberal studies and mathematics teacher, faces three years and eight months in jail after he was found guilty in the District Court on Thursday of four counts of indecent assault and one count of possessing child pornography. The cases covered a time span over 2008 and 09 and involved three boys, aged between 13 and 15.

The court heard that Lee made offers ranging from HK$500 to HK$3,000 to the three victims through online gay chatrooms for oral sex in shopping mall toilets and at his Tin Shui Wai home. He also confessed to secretly filming his sex acts with one of the boys at his home.

He told the judge that his actions stemmed from the pressures of his work as a teacher.

According to the judge, Lee repeatedly enticed ignorant young boys into prostitution by offering money, staining their young minds. Given that Lee was employed as a teacher, his crimes were extremely serious.

Despite the harsh sentence, Lee received wide support from almost 200 students, colleagues, principles, family and friends, who wrote to plead for clemency.

Defense lawyer Au Pak-ching submitted letters in which Lee was described as a hardworking and responsible teacher who was loved by his students. The court heard Lee sent a student to a tutorial center to improve his poor English and paid the tuition fees for a year. Lee also rented a flat for students to study in the lead-up to a public examination.

Lee is a religious Christian, a founder of a charity and a long-time member of St John Ambulance. He was also a member of a disciplinary committee helping to correct students' misdeeds.

The judge said the claims as to Lee's good character can not mitigate what he did. He also noted that there was a chance Lee could reoffend. The judge ruled the sentence must serve as deterrent to others and must serve the best interests of children.

The sexual incidents came to light after one of the boys told a social worker about them and later reported the affair to police. None of the victims was a student of Lee's.

China Daily

(HK Edition 07/23/2010 page1)