Charity worker who admitted raping disabled woman jailed for six years at Hong Kong court
Man committed multiple sex crimes against woman at the Police Tactical Unit’s headquarters in Fanling, while she was under his supervision
A man who worked for a Hong Kong charity that helps the mentally disabled, who raped a woman under his supervision at the Police Tactical Unit’s headquarters, was jailed for six years and eight months on Monday.
Bunny Leung Chung-kin, who was a senior foreman with the Hong Chi Association, earlier admitted twice raping and once molesting the woman, who has learning difficulties, between April and May last year. The association had assigned them both to work at the police base in Fanling at the time.
High Court Judge Madam Justice Susana D’Almada Remedios, sentencing Leung, said he exploited his “special relationship” with the woman and her family.
It was also a serious breach of trust, she said, as he had betrayed the expectation of the woman’s parents and the organisation, which specifically briefed him on the dangers of sexual abuse when he took the job.
The court had heard Leung joined the charity in 2015. Before that, he was a jail officer with the Correctional Services Department for 26 years.
At the time of the offence, Leung’s job was to instruct the woman, referred to as “X” in court to protect her anonymity.
But instead, Madam Justice D’Almada Remedios noted, Leung “took advantage” of his position and X’s mental capacity. X has an IQ of 61, giving her the mental age of a 9 year old.
On April 9 last year, about three and a half years after X began working at the police premises, Leung forced himself on her in a staff room. He covered her mouth when she struggled, the court heard.
He raped her in a storeroom a week later, and on May 7 he molested X in the same storeroom.
The attacks came to light when X texted Leung’s colleague, saying she had been abused. Her father eventually reported the case to police and Leung lost his job.
“After the sexual assault, her mother had to accompany X to sleep at night until recent months,” the judge said, citing the court’s impact report, which concluded that the assaults took a toll on X’s mood, sleep and social skills.
Caesar Lo Chi-lam, barrister for the defence, had said in mitigation that the case stemmed from his client’s mistaken belief that he was in a relationship with X, and that Leung had poor control of his sexual impulses.
On Monday, mitigation letters also poured in from Leung’s former employers, friends and relatives, some of whom sat in the public gallery to support him.
But Madam Justice D’Almada Remedios rejected Leung’s explanation.
“I am unable to accept that a mature adult like yourself, employed as a senior supervisor in an organisation, such as Hong Chi Association, could, would or might have had such a mistaken belief,” she said.
She said Leung should get an enhanced sentence because of aggravating factors including the breach of trust, X’s vulnerability and the negative impact on the victim.
Reports on Leung’s mental state revealed he had suffered depression after his crimes, with suicidal thoughts. He tried to act on those thoughts by “dashing into roads, jumping from heights and slashing his forearm”, the report read, but it added that his health had since improved.
