Man tricked girl into sex, court told

A man in his fifties preyed on a naive, superstitious teenager with learning difficulties by telling her he had to have intercourse with her to exorcise ghosts haunting her, a court heard yesterday.

Chow Kam-wah, 52, yesterday faced the first day of a seven-day trial on rape and other charges in the Court of First Instance.

Chow, a driver, is accused of convincing the woman, who became his goddaughter during the period the alleged crimes occurred, to have sex with him through elaborate rituals at his Tin Shui Wai home on three occasions. He also allegedly raped her twice, once at his flat and once in his car at a secluded location.

Chow has pleaded not guilty to three counts of procuring sexual intercourse by deception and two counts of rape between March and September last year.

Peter Cahill, for the prosecution, said the 19-year-old woman was a naive and vulnerable teenager whose superstitions made her an easy target for Chow. 'He preyed on her superstition of the existence of ghosts, and by repeating that ghosts were following her, to obtain sexual relief,' Cahill said in opening the case.

On each of the three occasions when he coaxed the woman into sex by saying he was helping her expel ghosts, he first burned incense and stamped on the floor, ostensibly to obtain the gods' attention. Then he blindfolded the woman, removed her clothing and drew signs and incantations on her back before having sex with her. 'He took all the steps for the outward makings of a ritual,' Cahill said.