Former military officer and Chinese medicine practitioner charged with sexual assault may have more victims, Victoria police say

Former military officer and Chinese medicine practitioner charged with sexual assault may have more victims, Victoria police say
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Kit Wong in 2008, when he was an official with the Consolidated Chinese Benevolent Association of Victoria.
Photograph By DEBRA BRASH, VICTORIA TIMES COLONIST

Victoria police believe a former B.C. naval officer who practiced traditional Chinese medicine and is facing four sexual assault charges may have more victims in Esquimalt and across Canada.

Kit Wong, a 70-year-old man from Esquimalt is facing four charges of sexual assault in connection with historic sexual assaults involving four women. The charges were laid after a year-long investigation.

Police said several of the alleged incidents occurred between 2005 and 2006. Wong was working as an acupuncturist, massage therapist and practitioner of traditional Chinese medicine out of his home-based business in Esquimalt at the time, police said.

Wong was previously an officer in the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF). The Department of National Defence has confirmed Wong served in Canadian Armed Forces from 1980 to 2003 and retired as a lieutenant-commander. He was a naval combat systems engineering officer and his last posting was at the Maritime Forces Pacific Headquarters in Esquimalt.

He was not a member of the medical staff but did practice traditional Chinese medicine on service members, police said.

Victoria police believe there could be more unidentified victims in Esquimalt and across Canada due to Wong’s career with the Canadian military, as well as his work as an instructor and practitioner of acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine during the time of the allegations. Investigators believe that victims could include current and former members of the Canadian Armed Forces, current and former students of traditional Chinese medicine, and members of the wider community.

“These alleged sexual assaults left these women feeling powerless,” Special Victims Unit Detective Graeme Leblanc said. “Our investigation indicates that Kit Wong’s position in the Canadian Armed Forces and in the community left women hurt by this man, feeling as though they could not come forward. It doesn’t matter who the suspect is. We will listen.”

Wong was disciplined back in 2014 by a College of Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioners and Acupuncturists of British Columbia panel after the college received a complaint from a patient alleging Wong had punched her in a sexual nature during a Tuina treatment. An investigation revealed three other female patients allegedly experienced similar treatments. A panel accepted the evidence of the four female patients.

Following a disciplinary hearing, a panel concluded Wong has engaged in professional misconduct and “contravened the Practice Standards for Sexual Misconduct under s. 18.4 of the college bylaws by touching one female patient’s breast and genitalia in a sexual nature and kissing the same female patient on the cheek, by touching a second female patient’s breast in a sexual nature, by touching a third female patient’s genitalia in a sexual nature and by brushing a fourth female patient’s genitalia in a sexual nature.”

Wong received a reprimand, a cancellation of his registration with a prohibition against applying for registration with the college for two years from the date of the decision, a fine of $10,000 and a payment of $11,881.23 for hearing costs and disbursements.

Police said any victims or anyone who has information about Kit Wong they wish to share with investigators, then can call Victoria police’s non-emergency line at 250-995-7654 or the Victoria Sexual Assault Centre at 250-383-3232. Any members of the Canadian Armed Forces can contact the Sexual Misconduct Response Centre at 1-844-750-1678 or through their chain of command. The Canadian Forces National Investigation Service is prepared to assist Victoria police as required.

If you wish to remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.

A picture of Wong has not been released by police. The allegations have not been proven in court.

Alexa HuffmanAlexa Huffman

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