Man who had sex with young teen sentenced
Kwan Loong Lee tried to flee the country after his sexual relationship with a 13-year-old was discovered.
On Wednesday, his offending caught up with him, and the 25-year-old was sentenced to home detention by the Nelson District Court.
In September, following a guilty plea, Lee was convicted of two charges of sexual connection with a young person.
The summary of facts, read in court by Judge Tony Zohrab, said Lee met his victim in 2022, when he was 24.
Between April and May last year, Lee and the 13-year-old girl exchanged over 7000 messages.
In one message, Lee told the victim he was being “threatened of being reported to the police for paedophilia”.
When the victim asked why, Lee replied, “’cause I’m dating a minor”.
Later that night, they had sex. After they had a sex a second time and Lee’s condom broke, the girl told her school counsellor, who notified her parents, who then contacted police.
The victim messaged Lee, warning him her father had found out, and five days later, on May 31, Lee was arrested at Auckland International Airport as he tried to board a plane for China.
The girl’s father wept as he read his victim impact statement.
The emotional damage their family had suffered was “incalculable”, he said. He had suffered from alcohol problems, and had spent nights crying himself to sleep, berating himself for being a bad parent.
Lee had continued to contact the girl while on bail, and he was considering relocating the family to Auckland, to get as far away from him as possible.
Her mother’s statement, read by Crown prosecutor Jeremy Cameron, said the couple had found it difficult trying to keep their daughter safe.
“She believes that she is in love with him and we are ... putting the love of her life in jail.”
Cameron said the offending was premeditated grooming that had persisted over time.
Due to the ongoing risk of contact between the pair, he advocated for Lee’s inclusion on the Child Sex Offender Register.
Lee’s lawyer Jackie van Schalkwyk said her client understood the severity of the charges. He was remorseful, and had expressed insight into his offending.
Lee’s decision making was coloured by an incident in his youth that had resulted in post-traumatic stress disorder, van Schalkwyk said.
She opposed Lee’s inclusion on the Child Sex Offender Register.
Judge Zohrab told Lee that a victim impact statement from the teenager “highlighted her youth and naivety and the extremely difficult position that you as an older adult placed her in”.
The judge said he had “grave doubts” about Lee’s remorse, given the length of the relationship, and his early knowledge of her age.
From a start point of 33 months, the judge made several discounts including for Lee’s previous lack of convictions and his guilty plea, arriving at 19 months prison.
However, the judge considered a home detention sentence of 9 months was appropriate.
He ordered Lee to attend programmes to address his offending behaviour.
Due to the “gross disparity in age”, the premeditated nature of the offending and Lee’s knowledge the behaviour would likely cause harm, the judge agreed with the Crown that Lee should be included on the Chid Sex Offender Register.
Lee is required to pay an emotional harm payment of $3000.