Ex-care home warden convicted of raping resident
SCMP · 2 SOURCES1 day ago2 MIN
Summary
Former assistant warden Chung Pui-kei was convicted in the High Court of raping a female resident at a Tai Po care home run by the Hong Chi Association on five occasions between July 13 and August 9, 2024. The complainant, identified in court only as X, was 22 or 23 at the time according to the reports, and the court heard her intellectual functioning was equivalent to that of a nine-year-old child. Prosecutors said Chung abused the woman’s trust after building a friendly relationship with her at the home. Judge Douglas Yau adjourned sentencing to October 14 for mitigation, psychological and psychiatric assessments of the defendant, and a psychological trauma report on the victim
Key Points
- A High Court jury found 38-year-old Chung Pui-kei guilty of five rape counts involving a mentally incapacitated woman at the Hong Chi Association home in Tai Po.
- HKFP reported the jury of five men and two women deliberated about five hours before returning 6:1 majority verdicts on three charges and unanimous verdicts on two
- SCMP reported a jury of four men and two women returned a unanimous verdict, rejecting Chung’s claim the woman fabricated allegations from grievance or jealousy
- The court heard Chung raped the resident three times in a male staff room and twice in her room between July 13 and August 9, 2024
- Police found condoms and related items in Chung’s locker, while a bedsheet from the woman’s room contained his semen and her DNA; CCTV also showed him taking her into his office four times and entering her bedroom once.
Why It Matters
The case raises acute concerns about safeguarding residents with intellectual disabilities in institutional care, especially where staff hold authority over people with limited ability to report abuse. It also underlines the importance of forensic evidence, CCTV records and trauma assessments in prosecuting sexual offences involving vulnerable victims in Hong Kong.