Sonny Hang Chin (65) appeared in the Dunedin District Court yesterday, where he pleaded not guilty to 13 charges of indecent assault.
All of the complainants said the "qigong master" touched their breasts without warning or their consent; one said the defendant bit her nipple during a treatment session.
Counsel Anne Stevens KC said her client denied the bite but accepted there may have been contact with the women’s breasts — in the context of his healing work.
"We’re all familiar with mainstream Western medicine ... To understand the defence in this case is to understand the application of traditional Chinese medicine," she said.
"The application of pressure to energy points or channels on the body is fundamental to qigong."
As well as the eight women whose police statements made up the criminal charges against Chin, there were two other witnesses for the prosecution, who gave evidence yesterday.
They too alleged they were groped by the defendant but police had investigated their complaints in 2016 and opted not to lay charges.
The first woman said she went to Chin in 2014 more for spiritual guidance than physical therapy.
She told the jury she disclosed that she had been sexually abused and the defendant laughed.
"I was horrified," she said.
Chin allegedly had her lay on her back and began to cleanse her chakras.
The woman said he suddenly poked her near her genitalia then cupped her breast with his hand.
"Not just put his hand on them — he squeezed them and moved them around," she told the court.
"I just froze; I went dead cold. The blood just drained out of my body."
Mrs Stevens suggested Chin had been accessing the patient’s energy points and actually had been putting pressure on the woman’s sternum.
"That’s not what happened," she said.
"He squeezed and fondled my breasts."
A second woman said she had repeatedly visited Chin for treatment on her back and hips after she had heard of his positive reputation.
She was complimentary of his work but said a visit in 2012 changed her opinion.
Chin, she told the jury, had usually concentrated on her legs and hips but towards the end of this session, he asked her to lie on her back.
The woman said the defendant touched each of her breasts for almost a minute.
"It didn’t really feel like a massage. It was more a fondling rather than massaging the pectoral muscle," she said.
"I was just terrified. I wasn’t quite clicking what was happening ... I felt very trapped."
Chin then allegedly told her: "you need to learn to love your bosoms."
The woman said she called the defendant a week later to cancel her next appointment and tell him she was informing police of his conduct.
Crown prosecutor Pip Norman, in her opening address, told the jury one of the complainants would describe Chin gripping her genitalia, shaking her and asking "what’s wrong with you?", before grabbing her breasts and saying: "there’s nothing wrong with you."
Another will allege the defendant quizzed her about being sexually repressed, then slapped her genitalia with moderate force and said "wake up".
Mrs Stevens said her client believed his patients had consented to his actions and urged jurors not to jump to conclusions.
"Even though the treatment [performed by Chin] may be unfamiliar, strange or even unappealing to you . . . it’s essential you keep an open mind so [he] receives a fair trial," she said.
The trial, before Judge David Robinson, is expected to run for up to three weeks.
