Among the six underage girls, with the youngest being an 11-year-old, some of them were said to have suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder.

Yu Chun-hing, 35, was said to have used social media to find his victims, luring them into the assaults.

Five of the girls fell victim to a range of sex crimes that included indecent conduct and assault and unlawful sexual intercourse, which took place in a public park, in the stairwell of a car park, and at multiple other locations on separate occasions between late 2017 and July of 2018.

District Judge Timothy Casewell slammed Yu for targeting girls of such young age, saying his serious offenses involved a breach of trust. However, he accepted the fact that Yu had not taken advantage of his police identity to commit the crime.

Casewell said taking into account that Yu had pleaded guilty not needing the victims to testify in court, Yu will be imposed a lesser sentence in view of his guilty plea.

The assaults first came to light in May of 2018 when one of the girls’ mothers discovered she had been frequently texting a contact by the name of “client” - which is Yu - on WhatsApp.

The mother sought help from the school and learned that her 12-year-old daughter and two of her friends had been taking part in so-called compensated dating activities with Yu. The case was then reported to the police.

Yu was also found to have sexually assaulted one other girl while out on bail after being arrested for the case.