Victim of therapist’s sex assault says she is mortified (From Swindon Advertiser)

Victim of therapist’s sex assault says she is mortified

8:50am Saturday 22nd September 2012 in News By Josh Layton

THE devastated victim of a herbal therapist who groped her during a treatment has told of her anger that he was not jailed.

The woman has been left mortified after Hong Wei Dong, who manhandled her as she lay in the dark at Herbal Shop, in Fleet Street, walked free from court.

Dong was given a sentence of four weeks suspended for the next two years. He was also prohibited from working in herbal medicine, massage or acupuncture within that time and ordered to sign on to the sex offenders’ register for the next seven years. No order was made for compensation or costs after Swindon Magistrates’ Court heard on Thursday that he faced extreme hardship providing for his family, who are Chinese Christians persecuted in their homeland.

The victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said: “I’m just appalled he is allowed to walk free from court while I’m left to carry the burden.

“I had to wait seven months for the trial, which included many sleepless nights and panic attacks, and then go through the trauma of reliving what happened through every graphic detail. I’m absolutely mortified.”

Dong, who lives in the clinic with his wife and two children, touched the woman’s chest and performed a sex act when she visited the shop in January.

He left her in the dark during an acupuncture treatment, before returning to remove the needles and massage her from the head down.

The 51-year-old then groped the woman and asked: “Can I kiss you?” She noticed he had taken one hand off her body and was shaking with his belt loosened around his trousers.

The woman said: “I now wish I hadn’t gone to the police. I can’t say that justice has been served.

“I feel completely let down. What kind of message does it send to other women who are victims of sex crimes to see this man walk free from court?”

The victim, whose consistent and compelling evidence secured Dong’s conviction for sexual assault at his trial earlier this month, added: “He is banned from practising but what is to stop him going and working somewhere else and doing the same thing again?”