The defendant Chong Ka-yi, 25, was granted HK$10,000 cash bail by Justice Audrey Campbell-Moffat at the High Court today.

She must not leave the city and must hand over all traveling documents. Neither can she go within 100 meters of the care home on Portland Street, nor can she contact other staffers or children there directly or indirectly.

Chong was also required to report to a police station once a week and was banned from taking part in care work involving children under the age of 14.

She will return to court on April 25, when the case of the other 26 will also be heard.

Chong was an employee at the Hong Kong Society for the Protection of Children, which came under scrutiny after at least 20 children at its facility were found to have been abused by their carers.

The case has so far seen 34 staffers of the facility arrested, with 27 of them charged with assault by those in charge of a child or young person - an offense that carries a maximum jail sentence of 10 years.

With Chong released on bail, only three of the 27 were still remanded. It was understood they were deeply involved in the child abuse cases and were therefore not granted bail.