Appearing before magistrate Jeffrey Sze Cho-yiu in West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts this morning, Lam Chor-kin pleaded guilty to two counts of indecent assault.

The court earlier heard that Lam sat to the right of the female passenger “X” after she boarded the route 58M bus heading to Tuen Mun around 7am on August 26. X was wearing a short skirt then, and Lam moved his left thigh and touched X’s right thigh.

X immediately retreated, but Lam then put his left hand on his thigh and touched X’s thigh again with the back of his hand. X was terrified by the sexual assault and got off the bus about 10 minutes later.

On August 29, Lam again sat next to X, who was wearing a short skirt, and boarded the same 58M bus. This time the sexual assault occurred only about a minute before X recognized that Lam was the man who preyed on her a few days before. X then informed the bus captain and left the scene.

Lam was later arrested and admitted his crime under police caution. He also told officers: “The girl looked very attractive in a short skirt, and I couldn’t control myself, which was why I touched her thigh with my left hand.”

Sze addressed the necessity of immediate imprisonment when handing down the sentence, although it was the first time Lam had committed the sex crime.

Sze added both sexual assaults involved direct physical contact between Lam and X, one of which even lasted for up to 10 minutes. The judge also slammed Lam for further taking the offensive even though X had been trying to stay away from him.

In mitigation, the defense said Lam graduated from Guangzhou College of Commerce in July and found a surveyor job as he returned to Hong Kong. Lam committed the crime because he couldn’t adapt to his job and he was under a lot of pressure, according to the defense.