Ex-Hong Kong care home warden found guilty of raping intellectually disabled female resident

A former Hong Kong care home warden has been found guilty of raping an intellectually disabled female resident five times two years ago.

The High Court. File photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.

A High Court jury consisting of five men and two women on Wednesday found Chung Pui-kei, a former assistant warden at a Tai Po care home operated by the Hong Chi Association, guilty of five counts of rape, local media reported.

Following roughly five hours of deliberation, the jury returned a 6:1 majority verdict for three charges and a unanimous decision on the remaining two, ruling Chung guilty of raping the resident on five occasions in July and August, 2024.

Judge Douglas Yau adjourned sentencing until October 14, pending the defendant’s mitigation, his psychological and psychiatric assessments, and the victim’s psychological trauma report.

The court previously heard that Chung, aged 38 at the time, started working at the Tai Po care home as an assistant warden about a month before the first offence took place on July 13, 2024.

The victim, aged 22 at that time and identified in court only as X, has a mild intellectual disability, with an IQ equivalent to that of a nine-year-old child, the court heard.

CCTV footage showed that Chung brought the victim into his office four times and entered her bedroom once, where police found his sperm on the woman’s bed sheet, the court heard.

No ‘typical reaction’

The victim earlier testified via a video link, telling the court that she was “terrified” and felt pain during the sexual assaults, and that she had tried to say “no” but was told by the defendant to keep quiet.

Chung denied the sexual assaults during his testimony, saying he merely chatted with the woman and gave her food in his office. He also denied ejaculating in the woman’s bedroom, claiming instead that he wore a pair of shorts on that day and “sweated a lot.”

Hong Chi Pinehill Integrated Vocational Training Centre. Photo: Hong Chi Association, via Facebook.

Before the jury retired to consider their verdict on Wednesday, Judge Yau reminded the jurors not to assume that sexual assault victims always respond by promptly reporting the attack to police.

“Victims don’t necessarily have a typical reaction,” the judge said in Cantonese, adding that some may feel ashamed or scared and delay filing an official report.

The Hong Chi Association, Hong Kong’s largest NGO for people with intellectual disabilities, fired Chung following the incident and appointed an independent review committee to examine protective measures in its facilities.