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R v Hou [2025] SBHC 129; HCSI-CRC 481 of 2024 (19 September 2025)

HIGH COURT OF SOLOMON ISLANDS

IN THE HIGH COURT OF SOLOMON ISLANDS
CRIMINAL JURISDICTION

Criminal Case No. 481 of 2024

REX
V

ALICK HOU

Date of Hearing: 19 September 2025
Date of Decision: 19 September 2025

Counsel: Mr Auga for the Crown
Counsel: Mr Alasia for the Defendant

VERDICT AND SENTENCE

Introduction and Background

1. Mr. Alick Hou (AH) was 42 years old in the year 2024. Mr. Kevin Hou (KH) was 14 years old in the year 2024. AH comes from Taramata village, Small Malaita, Malaita Province. KH comes from Huraka village, Small Malaita, Malaita Province. AH and KH are related, AH being the uncle of KH. KH’s father and AH are cousin brothers.
2. In March 2024, KH and his parents migrated from their home village on Small Malaita to Honiara, where they lodged with AH’s elder brother, Jeffery Hou, at Tasahe B, Double Post area, West Honiara. Jeffery Hou’s house is a double-story building. AH and KH shared a room upstairs, and KH’s parents resided down below on the ground floor.
3. KH complains that on 16.06.24, AH had anal sexual intercourse with him in the room upstairs. While KH was sleeping, AH woke him up. AH told KH to remove his trousers, so that he can have anal sexual intercourse with him. KH refused and was slow in removing his trousers. AH became angry. AH threatened KH saying “remove your trousers quickly otherwise I will kill you”.
4. KH was afraid and did as instructed. AH also removed his own trousers and exposed his penis to KH. AH forced KH to lie down, in front of him. KH bends forward, turning his buttocks towards AH’s penis. AH pushed his penis into KH’s anus and had anal sexual intercourse with him. AH withdrew his penis from KH’s anus and continued to masturbate until he ejaculated and warned KH not to tell anyone. KH felt a lot of pain in his anus and discovered that he had blood in his faeces (stool), when he visited the toilet that night.
5. On 20.06.24, AH beat KH with an umbrella wire, causing him to sustain injuries to his left shoulder. KH escaped and stayed with his grandfather in the Tasahe B area. When KH’s mother came to take him back, he told his mother what AH did to him. KH’s parents observed that AH would frequently monitor and restrict KH’s movement. Additionally, KH’s parents discovered that AH would frequently ask KH to have anal sex with him. The matter was subsequently reported to White River police and customary compensation was exchanged.
6. AH is charged with one count of rape contrary to Section 136F (1) and (b) of the 2016 Act. I listed the trial to run from 15 to 19 September 2025. I adjourned the trial on 15.09.25 because the defence counsel had yet to obtain instructions. On 15.09.25, the defence counsel indicated by email correspondence that his client will enter a guilty plea. I issued relevant direction orders via email. The agreed facts were settled by 17.09.25.
7. The sentencing and mitigation submissions were listed for 19.09.25. I arraigned AH on 19.09.2025. He entered a guilty plea to the charge and the agreed facts, as summarised above (paragraphs 1 to 5). I convicted Mr. AH of rape premised on his guilty plea and the agreed facts.

Gravity of the offending

8. This is a new and serious offence. The novelty and seriousness of the offence could be viewed from a number of lenses. First, it involves a serious betrayal of trust. The agreed facts revealed that AH is the uncle of KH. KH and his parents have just migrated from the village, on Small Malaita, to Honiara city. The resettled family were lodging with AH and his elder brother Jeffrey Hou at the latter’s residence, at Tasahe B, West Honiara.
9. As is the custom, KH was sharing a room with his uncle AH because his parents trusted that his uncle AH would take good care of him at night. Instead, as the agreed facts disclosed, during their stay at Tasahe B, KH was often heard crying at night because AH was sexually abusing him, in the room upstairs. These were the nights when AH was unsuccessfully attempting to sexually abuse KH. KH was resisting AH’s sexual approaches (my implication).
10. Secondly, this uncommon form of sexual intercourse choked morality, sanity and cultural values of respect, care and love for one another in the family. Culturally Jeffery Hou and AH’s house in Honiara is KH’s house, because KH is the nephew of AH and Jeffery Hou. KH was entitled to feel secure in his uncle’s house. Instead, AH turned the safety of the home into a crime scene for KH.
11. Third, the seriousness of this offence is reflected in the maximum penalty of life imprisonment, which Parliament has prescribed. Parliament was responding to the prevalence of sexual abuse of children in the 2016 legislative reform, evidenced by a nation-wide survey carried out preceding the reform.
12. Furthermore, what makes it even more serious is the unnatural sex involving male on male and male penis inserted in a male anus or homosexuality or unnatural sexual abuse offence. This makes it more serious in custom and culture in terms of moral and humane dignity violation and the associated shame and social stigma that the young male victim or his family will be subjected to (see victim’s impact statement). Homosexuality is not known in Are ‘Are culture, or it does not exist or if it ever existed it is not widely experienced. Taramata is part of Small Malaita, which shares the same culture and language with the greater Are ‘Are region of South Malaita and Marau sound on Guadalcanal.
13. KH will be profoundly negatively affected psychologically and physically and these impacts and the scars from this inhumane unnatural sexual intercourse experience will haunt him for the rest of his life (see the victim impact statement, where KH talked about being hurt, having a lack of trust in his uncles, was feeling ashamed and feeling hateful for himself for the sexual abuse he suffered).

Normal start point sentence

14. In terms of the starting point sentence, I will put it at 8 years because this is an unlawful sexual offence under Section 136F of the 2016 Act against a child under 15 years and is a non-contested matter (Sinatau, Court of Appeal 2023). I said above that KH was 14 years old.

Departure from start point and reasons

15. However, I will depart and start at 12 years in view of the peculiar circumstances of the offence as highlighted above (repeat paragraphs 8 to 13). A deviation from the starting point sentence is permissible under Pana Court of Appeal 2013 and Soni Court of Appeal 2013, only requiring the judge to give reasons (my reasons being the peculiar circumstances of the offending as alluded to above).

Aggravating factors

16. Then I identify the following serious aggravating factors: -
    • (i) Serious breach of position of trust
    • (ii) Age disparity
    • (iii) Offence committed in the comfort of the home at night
    • (iv) Psychological harm and trauma
    • (v) Use of weapon, violence and physical harm (AH pushed his penis into KH’s anus and he saw blood in his stool. AH hit the victim with an umbrella wire causing injuries to the victim’s left shoulder. AH also had bruises or tears upon rectal examination)
    • (vi) Young age of the victim
    • (vii) Pre-planning
    • (viii) Weak and vulnerable
17. For all of the above 8 serious aggravating factors combined, I will uplift the start point sentence by 8 more years (1 year for each aggravating factor). Increases due to serious aggravation should be made in years and not merely in weeks and months (Bade, Court of Appeal 2023). That will bring me to 20 years aggravated head sentence before mitigation.

Mitigating factors

18. Then I determine the following mitigation factors to reduce the head sentence downwards: -
    • (i) Early guilty plea. I will give a 20 percent reduction only instead of the normal 30 percent (Pige, Court of Appeal 2023) because this is not a genuine early guilty plea. I took the first plea on 24.02.25. The defendant pleaded not guilty. I then listed the trial. And that was when the defendant entered a guilty plea. That comes to 4 years.
    • (ii) First time offender with no previous conviction – 2 years.
    • (iii) Compensation - 1 year.
    • (iv) Rehabilitation - 3 years because AH is a young man and would get rehabilitated in the correctional institution and return back to society to be a better person.
    • (v) Cooperate with the police - 1 year.
19. I will sentence AH to 9 years imprisonment (20 years aggravated head sentence minus 11 years mitigated head sentence).

Conclusion and Orders

20. As I stand back and look at the circumstances of this case, and ask whether the merits justify the sentence term imposed, I can say that it is a fair sentence term, when you consider that the maximum penalty available is life imprisonment. The novelty of the unnatural sex involved in this case must be condemned in the strongest terms. This sentence reflects the gravity of the offence and accords well with Parliament’s intent to protect children from new and emerging sexual abuses under the 2016 legislative reform.
21. This sentence term will send a powerful deterrent message to the accused and the public at large that offenders will receive harsher punishments to mark society’s outrage and denunciation against unnatural sex of young male children which is starting to creep into our society. We must guard our society against these emerging forms of homosexuality crimes.
22. I convict you AH as charged premised on your guilty plea and the agreed facts. I sentenced you to 9 years imprisonment. You are entitled to pre-trial detention time deductions, as the Correctional Service may determine from their records. You are also entitled to appeal this sentence.

THE COURT
JUSTICE JOHN A KENIAPISIA
PUISNE JUDGE