Rapist masseur Weiqing Liu has jail time doubled on appeal

CONTENT WARNING: This article refers to sexual abuse.

A masseur who indecently assaulted or raped six of his clients at his workplace has had the time he must spend in jail doubled on appeal.

Weiqing Liu, who worked at the Capital Health Centre of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Phillip, admitted abusing the women between November 2019 and October 2021.

The women had gone to the clinic and he either digitally raped them, touched their genitalia or, in one case, touched his genitals against one’s arm while providing them services.

In July 2023, the ACT Supreme Court’s Justice David Mossop convicted him on eight charges and sentenced him to a total of almost three-and-a-half years’ jail to be suspended after 16 months behind bars, which meant he would have been released in November 2024.

Justice Mossop said the main issue on sentencing was whether the offending was sexually motivated, as the prosecution argued, or motivated by Liu’s misguided understanding that he could get more clients by providing sexual services, which Liu had claimed.

But the justice said he could not be satisfied of either, leaving the motivation uncertain.

Prosecutors appealed the decision and on Thursday (1 August) learned they were successful, as the ACT Court of Appeal granted their move in a two-to-one decision.

During Liu’s sentencing hearing, his barrister, Kieran Ginges, had argued his client had a misguided understanding about sexual services in Australia.

“He thought that by providing such a service, he would be enticing them to return and would, in fact, refer their friends,” Mr Ginges said, saying his client now accepted his logic was bizarre.

However, the Court of Appeal’s Chief Justice Lucy McCallum and Justice Louise Taylor rejected this argument.

“In our respectful opinion, the only reasonable inference from the facts on which the offender was sentenced is that his offending was sexually motivated,” they said.

“The sentencing judge erred in not being satisfied of that fact beyond reasonable doubt.”

They said Liu had given a “bizarre explanation” for his offending, and “the evidence that the offending was sexually motivated was overwhelming”.

For instance, he persisted in the abuse after being warned of the potential consequences.

The two judges said Liu was sentenced on “a more favourable basis” due to Justice Mossop’s findings on motivation.

“In our view, the seriousness of the offending and the inadequacy of the sentence are significant,” the two judges said.

“The offender deliberately exploited the vulnerability of the victims having been granted access to their bodies for what should have been a therapeutic purpose.”

Liu was resentenced to a total of almost five-and-a-half years in jail, with a non-parole period of three years.

This means the now-35-year-old will now be eligible for parole from July 2026.

The Court of Appeal’s Justice Chrissa Loukas-Karlsson dissented from the decision by Chief Justice McCallum and Justice Taylor and said she would have dismissed the prosecution’s appeal.

Since Liu was sentenced, Australian Border Force has told him that he is to be taken into immigration detention immediately after being released from custody and deported to China.

The two judges said “deportation is certain” and his wife has already returned to China.

Liu pleaded guilty to three counts of sexual intercourse without consent and five counts of committing an act of indecency without consent.

If this story has raised any concerns for you, 1800RESPECT, the national 24-hour sexual assault, family and domestic violence counselling line, can be contacted on 1800 737 732. Help and support are also available through the Canberra Rape Crisis Centre on 02 6247 2525, the Domestic Violence Crisis Service ACT 02 6280 0900, the Sexual Violence Legal Services on 6257 4377 and Lifeline on 13 11 14. In an emergency, call Triple Zero.