An Uber driver who inappropriately touched and took intimate photos of his intoxicated teenage passenger while she was sleeping claims it was an accident.
But a High Court judge has rejected the claim and Teck Wong’s appeal for a lighter sentence, saying the indecent assault was a “complete abuse of trust”.
Wong, 47, picked up his 18-year-old victim from outside a Christchurch bar and “took advantage” of her when she fell asleep in his car.
Last week, Wong appealed through his lawyer Chris Nolan in the High Court at Christchurch that the sentence imposed wasn’t appropriate, stating the indecent assault was on the lower end of the scale.
Nolan said his client pulled away the victim’s underwear to take a photo of her genitals and unintentionally brushed his fingers over her genitals.
While Nolan acknowledged that this was serious offending, he said the starting point of two and a-half years in prison that Judge Couch adopted was “too high”.
He described the pre-sentence report as a “mixed bag” and said Wong had expressed some remorse and knew what he did was wrong.
However, this was rejected by Justice Rachel Dunningham in a recently released decision on the appeal.
She said the report stated Wong was more concerned about the loss of his passenger endorsement licence than the harm caused to his victim.
“Understanding what you did was wrong and then pleading guilty to it is not the same as remorse,” she said.
Justice Dunningham described the offending as a “complete abuse of trust”, noting the teenager was not only intoxicated but also asleep.
She said the teenager was extremely vulnerable and now suffers from anxiety and has trouble sleeping due to nightmares as a result of Wong’s actions.
Justice Dunningham was satisfied that the sentence of 10 months’ home detention was appropriate and dismissed Wong’s appeal.
The offending
According to the summary of facts, Wong picked up the victim outside a Christchurch bar in the early hours of the morning in August last year.
He drove her to where she was staying but the victim, who has name suppression, asked if she could wait in his car until her friends arrived, which Wong agreed to.
The victim fell asleep, her skirt slipping up slightly. Wong reached over to brush her underwear to the side, making contact with her private parts, and took three photos of her genitals on his phone.
Wong told police he had deleted the photos a few days later and his phone was seized.
During sentencing, Judge Couch said the offending was a “gross breach of trust” and Wong could not have believed the victim was consenting because she was asleep.
Judge Couch rejected the idea that Wong showed remorse, stating reports provided to the court suggested he was repeatedly trying to “justify or rationalise” his offending.
Wong has been prohibited from holding a passenger endorsement licence, meaning he can no longer work as an Uber driver. He had also paid an emotional harm payment of $1000 to the victim.
SEXUAL HARM
Where to get help:
If it's an emergency and you feel that you or someone else is at risk, call 111.
If you've ever experienced sexual assault or abuse and need to talk to someone, contact Safe to Talk confidentially, any time 24/7:
• Call 0800 044 334
• Text 4334
• Email support@safetotalk.nz
• For more info or to web chat visit safetotalk.nz
Alternatively contact your local police station - click here for a list.
If you have been sexually assaulted, remember it's not your fault.
- By Emily Moorhouse
- Open Justice multimedia journalist, Christchurch
