HK care home to be closed after abuse claims spark outrage

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-37687284

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Authorities in Hong Kong have moved to shut down a care home at the centre of abuse allegations which have generated widespread anger in the territory.

The case centres on allegations that the former head of the home sexually assaulted a mentally-ill female resident in his care.

Cheung Kin-wah had charges against him dropped in May, because his alleged victim was declared unfit to testify.

But his case came to public attention when he tried to claim legal costs.

The case has sparked public fury, and demands for a wholesale reform of care home management.

A petition calling for Mr Cheung to face formal disciplinary action reached more than 110,000 signatures.

Post-traumatic stress disorder

The allegations date back to 2014, when Mr Cheung was in charge of the Bridge of Rehabilitation Company in the Kwai Chung district.

He was accused of abusing a then 21-year old woman, who has a mental age of an 8-year-old.

Police found pieces of tissue paper that contained Mr Cheung's semen and a mixture of bodily fluids from him and the victim.

The woman has reportedly suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder ever since.

But Mr Cheung denied all the allegations, saying that tissues were found with his semen because he stuffed them into his pants when sleeping due to wet dreams.

He added that she drank a discarded drink of his retrieved from the bin, causing her saliva to catch onto the tissue.

The Department of Justice said it had made made a thorough consideration of the law, evidence and the ­victim's medical reports, but since the woman could not testify there could be no case.

Mr Cheung had previously been accused twice of molesting others under his care, but escaped being charged due to a contradiction in testimonies.

Government under pressure

A representative of the Parents' Association of Pre-school Handicapped Children told news outlet SCMP that it was the "saddest thing" to see the case dropped.

Roy Kwong, a democrat politician who started the petition calling on the government to take action, said "we cannot allow the voiceless to be abused again.

"It is very difficult to provide evidence when the mentally challenged are sexually harassed," he told the BBC.

"The court has not convicted him and we have to assume his innocence," he added. "I hope he can [search] his conscience."

Pressure increased on the government to explain how the centre was allowed to continue operating and for the rules on care home management to be tightened.

Then on Friday, it emerged that there had been seven deaths at the Bridge of Rehabilitation home in the past eight months, including a suicide and two patients who choked to death on food.

One death, a 14-year-old boy who fell from a window, is still being investigated.

The social welfare department announced it was revoking the license of the care home, saying management had failed to improve many problems.

Meanwhile, Mr Cheung has given repeated interviews in the past week, insisting his innocence.

In an interview with radio station RTHK, he said: "I am the victim. She's not." His claim for legal costs was rejected.

Reporting by Yvette Tan and Grace Tsoi