On September 1, Hongkong police revealed that they have arrested a 24-year-old actor for having sex with a 14-year-old girl. The age of consent in Hongkong is 16.

According to the police, the girl had met the man online and he took her to a Tsim Sha Tsui hotel in mid-August for sex.

It was later reported that the actor's surname is Chan and had “recently appeared in a drama series”.

As the full name of the actor was not disclosed, netizens took it upon themselves to guess the man's identity based on what was reported.

They quickly narrowed it down to three actors: TVB's Rio Chan, who starred in Come Home Love: Lo and Behold, TVB newcomer Darryl Chan, who was last seen in Battle of the Seven Sisters, and newbie Hugo Chan.

The three actors were forced to take to their respective IG accounts to rubbish the accusations, with all of them pointing out that they don’t fit the profile of the suspect.

Darryl said that he’s “only 23”, while Rio clarified that he’s “already 26”. On the other hand, 25-year-old Hugo told the media that he would “never [have sex with] a 14-year-old”.

With the witch-hunt still ongoing, legal experts have warned netizens not to make wild guesses on the identity of the suspect as the falsely accused actors could very well take legal action against them.

TVB has also issued a statement to declare that none of their artistes were involved in the scandal. “Our station is aware of the case which involves [having sex with] an underage girl. In the description, the suspect was said to be a male artiste from TVB. We’d like to clarify that the person involved is not one of our artistes, read the statement.

Photos: PBE Media