A herbal medicine practitioner groped a female patient and asked if he could kiss her as he carried out an acupuncture treatment, a court heard.
Seedy Hong Wei Dong, 51, touched his victim’s chest and performed a sex act on himself as she lay on a bed in a darkened room at the health shop.
His patient had paid £100 to receive four treatments at the Herbal Shop in Swindon, Wilts., to help her cope with stress.
Swindon Crown Court heard how Dong, who is a pastor’s son, pounced on the woman during her second treatment in January.
He left her in the dark after administering the therapy before returning to remove the needles and massage her from the head down.
Dong then groped her chest and asked her “can I kiss you?” – before taking one hand off her body and performing a sexual act on himself.
The horrified victim told Dong to leave the room and rushed out of the shop after pulling on her clothes.
Dong, who lives at the shop with his wife and daughter, was arrested but denied any wrongdoing.
He was found guilty of sexual assault after a trial at Swindon Magistrates Court on Monday and faces being deported back to his native China.
His victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, fought back tears as she told the hearing: “It’s been awful. On that day I felt violated.
“I had gone to see this person, supposed to be a herbalist or therapist, and had put my trust in him to relieve some stress and tension.
“I wanted to have an overall 100 per cent well-being. I didn’t go there to be man-handled and treated in a way I knew was wrong.”
James Bromige, prosecuting, told the court that Dong asked the woman to strip down to her underwear for the treatment,
She then lay down covering herself with a towel and was left alone with the lights out.
Mr Bromige said Dong returned 20 minutes later, “grabbed” the woman inappropriately and asked “can I kiss you” along with a number of sexual comments.
He denied the charges when interviewed by police – claiming that the Chinese word for ‘kidney’ is the same as ‘kiss’ in English.
In court, Dong claimed he was impotent and could not have kissed the woman because he had dental problems leaving to the loss of his teeth.
The prosecution produced evidence from alternative medical experts Ming Chen and Kush Kumar stating that Dong’s actions were not part of any recognised treatment.
Dong, of previous good character, wept as he told the court he came from a religious Chinese family and had never had a problem treating male and female patients.
He was remanded in custody and will be sentenced later this month.
Magistrates chairman Richard Mattick paid tribute to the victim and said she had been “consistent in her evidence throughout”.
He added: “You have done a considerable service to the community in coming forward.”
