Sonny Chin: New conviction
Two women who were groped by a self-proclaimed "massage master" are staggered he is not behind bars after admitting another sex attack.
Sonny Hang Chin, 67, appeared in the Dunedin District Court on Thursday where he pleaded guilty to an indecent assault.
The conviction is now added to the 10 counts — representing seven victims — on which he was found guilty by a jury in June 2023.
Chin was sentenced to three years and three months’ imprisonment but granted parole in January with nearly half that term outstanding — the board noting there was no available rehabilitation for him in prison.
The court heard on Thursday that during the trial the newest victim came forward to police and when the charge was laid in March, Corrections applied to have the disgraced healer returned to prison to continue serving his sentence.
That application was declined by the Parole Board and Chin remained on parole.
The situation did not change on Thursday when Judge Dominic Flatley allowed the defendant to remain on bail until sentencing in August.
Kristy Ovens, one of Chin’s victims who had her own name suppression lifted in 2023, said the fact her abuser remained in the community made "a mockery" of the system.
Tee Murtagh, who similarly gave up suppression to tell her story, described Chin as "a slimy predator" and remained "disgusted" he had been allowed parole.
"It is dangerous to the community to have convicted sex offenders being granted such leniency by the judicial system," she told the Otago Daily Times.
"The fact that he couldn’t get rehabilitation behind bars for sexual crimes should have the taxpayers furious."
A police summary of facts detailed Chin’s most recent sexual assault.
The victim, aged in her 30s, visited him in May 2015, seeking some relief from back pain.
At her next appointment the following month, Chin was applying pressure to her back while she lay on a table, fully clothed.
He told the woman she "should be ashamed of how she used her body to manipulate men".
The victim described feeling "very attacked" and urged the defendant to focus on her back pain.
Chin had other ideas.
"The defendant, while holding the victim’s legs, said ‘you have two working legs’, before saying ‘two arms’, while grabbing her arms," court documents said.
"The defendant then said ‘two breasts’ as he grabbed each of the victim’s breasts with a cupped hand."
The victim left immediately.
When interviewed by police, Chin said he did not remember the woman.
The incident mirrored much of the evidence heard at the defendant’s 2023 trial where a procession of former clients described the sex attacks they endured.
Chin would make personal comments, often claiming the women had repressed sexual trauma that had manifested in physical ailments.
The molestations that followed were his attempt to urgently address those issues, he claimed at trial.
The jury roundly rejected his explanations.
Indecent assault carries a maximum penalty of seven years’ imprisonment.
The ODT understands it is unlikely Corrections will lodge another application for recall following Chin’s guilty plea.
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