In a court hearing earlier in the week, Hong Kong actor Edison Chen revealed that some 40 obscene photos were taken by a female celebrity and given to him as a 'present'.

The case, in which obscene photos of Chen and four other Hong Kong female celebrities were seen involved in sex acts, is currently being heard in Canada, Shin Min Daily News reported.

According to the Chinese paper, Chen testified in court that 40 of the hundreds of photos that were posted on the Internet were taken by one female celebrity during one of their trysts.

The actor also told the court that the pictures were given to him by the female celebrity out of her own will, and that it was only meant for the both of them. The other women involved in the case had no knowledge of this, Chen testified.

He also stressed that the obscene photos were not meant to be shared with any third party, and that none of the people involved had given the photos away or spoke of their sexual encounters.

This, Chen reasoned, was why the photos, which existed since 2001, were not known to the public until February 2008. The pictures were taken between 2001 and 2006, Chen said.

Chen also denied accusations that he transferred the obscene photos from his computer to his mobile phone and showed the pictures to others.

During the hearing, Chen testified that he bought four Apple computers from the eLiTeMULTIMEDIA store in Chung Wan, Hong Kong.

One of these computers was the Apple laptop in which the obscene photos were extracted when the former action star took it back to the store for repairs. Chen said that the notebook computer remained at the store for a few days.

However, Chen told the court that the obscene pictures were already deleted before he sent the computer in. But he admitted that he did not know deleted files could still be extracted from a computer by persons with the knowhow.

Lianhe Wanbao reported Chen confirming the identities of the four female celebrities involved in the case as Cecilia Chung, Gillian Chung, Bobo Chan and Rachel Ngan.

The Chinese evening daily said that Chen was initially reluctant to testify to reveal their identities, speaking in English, "I'm determined to protect their innocence. They have suffered enough."