RTHK editor gets 160 hours of community service for upskirt video

A Hong Kong court has sentenced a civil servant from RTHK, the country's public broadcaster, to 160 hours of community service. Chong Tak-yin, an assistant chief assignment editor in RTHK's Chinese news and current affairs division, admitted to filming an upskirt video of a woman in public. The 57-year-old pleaded guilty to one count of unlawfully recording or observing intimate parts.

Chong said the incident was a "momentary lapse of judgment" driven by sexual impulse. Patrolling officers observed Chong suspiciously following the woman, leading to a search of his phone where a video showing the woman's lower body was found. Chong's defense attorney, Joe Chan Wai-yin, noted that Chong was married with two sons and earned approximately HK$90,000 (US$11,480) a month.

He initially intended to plead not guilty but changed his mind, wanting to set a good example for his children by admitting his mistake and accepting the consequences. The probation officer found that Chong had sought professional help and believed the risk of reoffending to be low, describing the incident as a one-off. Magistrate Jeffrey Sze Cho-yiu accepted this assessment and imposed the community service order.