A merchant who coerced a 14-year-old girl into performing a sexual act by impersonating a police officer last year has been jailed for 27 months.

Chan Pak-kit was sentenced at the District Court on Wednesday on charges of falsely pretending to be a police officer and indecency towards a child under the age of 16, offences he committed over a span of three months in 2020.

A deterrent sentence was necessary for the 27-year-old man, who took advantage of the victim’s youth and immaturity to satisfy his sexual desires, judge David Dufton said.

Last month, the court heard Chan first approached the teen on social media in late August of 2020, claiming to be a senior inspector from Sha Tin Police Station who had previously worked with the Special Tactical Squad under assistant commissioner Rupert Dover.

Unbeknown to the girl, Chan, who was using the pseudonym Wong Hei-man, in fact worked for his family’s fruit import business.

Chan made multiple requests to meet the girl in October, after she asked him about a criminal case in which her boyfriend was involved.

During those conversations, the girl revealed she was 14 years old and had previously been reported missing by her parents in Ma On Shan.

When she asked why he did not know her identity given the report, Chan claimed he was unable to access the relevant documents, as those who went missing during the 2019 anti-government protests were bookmarked and kept in separate files.

In the early hours of November 1, the teen went to a hotel in Mong Kok with the defendant after she told him she wanted to spend a night out.

Soon after checking in, Chan removed his trousers and demanded the girl perform oral sex on him. The victim acceded after repeated requests as she feared he would assault her if she refused. The girl reported the case to police later that day, leading to the defendant’s arrest on November 6.

A psychological report said the girl, who was diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome before the incident, had since suffered from emotional instability, intrusive thoughts and occasional nightmares.

She had also exhibited strange behaviour and said she heard the voice of someone she believed to be her twin sister living inside her body. Her clinical psychologist was of the view that the incident might have exacerbated an existing mental illness.

A separate psychological assessment on Chan found he had indulged in sexual thoughts and become obsessed with the social media app Heymandi, where he tried to develop relationships with anonymous users.

His risk of committing another sexual offence was determined to be at the lower end of the moderate level, however, as he had demonstrated remorse and was willing to receive psychological counselling.

Judge Dufton set a starting point for sentencing at six months’ jail for pretending to be a police officer, and 3½ years’ jail for the indecency charge.

He reduced the sentences by three and 15 months, respectively, to reflect Chan’s guilty plea and his record of blood donations, and ordered both terms to be served concurrently.