Chinese computer technician gets over 8 months in jail for Chen sex scandal

New Delhi, May 14 (ANI): A Chinese computer technician involved in the stealing of sexually explicit photos of Canto pop star Edison Chen Koon-hei has been sentenced to eight-and-a-half months in jail.

The Kowloon City Magistrate Court found Dicky Sze Ho-chun, 24, guilty of dishonestly obtaining access to the intimate photos showing Chen in sex acts with female celebrities, including Gillian Chung, Cecilia Cheung and Bobo Chan.

But his defence counsel has declared that he would file an appeal, reports the China Daily.

Sze has been accused of stealing the pictures while Chen's computer was being repaired at Elite Multimedia Limited, where he was an employee, and he is said to have shown the photos to two female staff at a household store.

He also burnt a compact disc containing 1,300 sex images for one of them.

Pleading for leniency before Chief Magistrate Tong Man, defence counsel Kevin Tang said that Sze was only 21 when he committed the crime and was ignorant of the law.

"The defendant had no malicious intention in showing the nude images to others. He was an innocent boy willing to share his experience with people who asked him to do so. He regrets what he did," said Tang, adding Sze accepts responsibility for the incident.

However, Magistrate Tong ruled out suspending the sentence owing to the seriousness of the crime.

"Though the defendant realized no monetary gain, he gravely invaded the privacy of others and breached the trust of his employer," he said.

Although there was no evidence to prove Sze was responsible for touching off the high-profile scandal by distributing the photos on the Internet, he did expose private information of others in an extremely dangerous situation, he added.

The magistrate refused to grant bail pending appeal, and ordered that Sze be jailed immediately.

Chief Inspector of Police Kenny Wong Tak-cheung said that the judgment served as a warning to the public that it is a serious offence to use a computer dishonestly.

"Hong Kong Police is determined and capable of combating technological crimes," he added. (ANI)