Woman Charged With Child Porn After Live Streaming Children Showering

An Indonesian domestic worker in Hong Kong was charged with publishing child pornography after she uploaded a video which appeared to show her giving showers to three children, reports said Tuesday.

The 28-year-old woman from Indonesia, who was not named, shared the video as a Facebook Live broadcast Friday night, the BBC reported. The video which has since been taken down was said to have shown the naked children having their showers in a bathroom in a flat on Electric Road in Hong Kong Island’s North Point.

She was arrested Monday night and charged with publishing child pornography, the maximum sentence for which under the Prevention of Child Pornography Ordinance in Hong Kong is eight years in prison and a fine of HK$2,000,000 ($255,900). She is scheduled to appear at the Eastern Court on Thursday.

In the footage, the domestic worker was reportedly seen bathing three children — two boys and one girl, between the ages of six and eight and preparing them for bed. The children were shown naked.

According to local reports, one of the boys realized he was being filmed at one point during the video and asked: “What are you doing? Don’t film me.” The worker then denied that she was filming, in Cantonese. Oriental Daily reported.

The report also said that this was not the first time the maid had a live-streamed video of children. Another video, it said, showed her teaching a girl to do the dishes.

The Indonesian consulate in Hong Kong told the BBC they "never had an opinion that she did it with ill intention towards the children let alone taking pornographic purposes." It added: "There is a cultural difference between HK and Indonesia in expressing love to someone else's children. For example, hugging and kissing."

The consulate-general stated that it had advised all citizens its citizens in Hong Kong to excise more caution with respect to the pictures and images they post online.

Indonesian consul general Tri Tharyat also told the South China Morning Post: “There’s a cultural difference between Hong Kong and Indonesia in expressing love to someone else’s children, for example, kissing or hugging children.For Indonesians, it’s not a big problem to post a picture or video of naked children in the shower.”

The consulate’s response came after a spokeswoman for the Hong Kong-based Asian Migrants Coordinating Body, Eni Lestari, blamed the matter on “cultural differences” and called on the authorities to provide guidelines for domestic helpers on culturally unaccepted behavior.

According to the South China Morning Post, the city's Employment Agencies Association stated the woman might have been unaware that filming the children was against the law. Chairman Cheung Kit-man said helpers would usually be trained for months by the employment agent they started working. The training also included instructions on what not to do in a household, including taking videos or images of children. Cheung said he believed this was an isolated case.