The judge said the boy would need a long time to recover.
The helper, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was convicted after trial in February on three counts of indecent assault, which she had denied, claiming she was a lesbian.
The court heard that the series of assaults began in July 2011 after the helper threw a temper and told the boy she would no longer look after him.
When the boy urged her not to leave, she took him into her room, took off his pants, molested him and had penetrative sex with him. He was eight.
A similar assault took place a week later, with the helper using the same method to get the boy into having sex with her.
The helper had sex with the boy again almost two years later, after she made him sit on a toilet seat and molested him.
But these events only came to light last July, when the boy learnt about animal reproduction at the age of 13.
Princess Margaret Hospital’s clinical psychologist Dr Barry Tam Ka-hang said the boy appeared calm and settled during his three interviews before the start of trial.
A follow-up impact assessment conducted this month by another clinical psychologist, however, found the boy showing symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, such as having recurrent nightmares.
Upon a request from the defence to explain the discrepancies, Tam said the boy might have underreported the symptoms as he was quite surprised to find the boy reporting no symptoms before receiving treatment.
“I wouldn’t believe he would have no symptoms without any treatment. I can’t find any scientific explanation for that,” Tam testified.
“I believe he was feeling shameful about this experience … That’s my clinical judgment.”
Tam also revealed that the boy had once mentioned he was “afraid of being counter-sued”.
The helper, who lived with the boy’s family between 2007 and 2013, had a clean criminal record since arriving Hong Kong in 2001.
In her self-defence, she had told the court she was a lesbian and described the boy as imaginative.
A pre-sentencing psychologist report did not ascertain whether the helper was suffering from any psychopathology. But it noted that she evaded responsibility and tried to blame the boy’s parents.
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