A former massage therapist has been sentenced to three years' jail for secretly taking photos of two clients and sexually assaulting and raping another in central Queensland.
Shao-Wei Wu, 34, pleaded guilty in the District Court in Rockhampton last year to one count of sexual assault, one count of rape, and two counts of recording in breach of privacy.
During his sentencing on Friday morning the court heard the offending occurred two years ago when the Taiwanese national was working as a masseur in a shopfront at a Rockhampton shopping centre.
On April 5, 2021, three women attended the shop as paying customers at varying times throughout the day.
The court heard Wu partially removed the underwear of one of those women, a 27-year-old, assaulting and digitally raping her before she "swatted his hand away".
"She complained immediately to her partner and then police," Judge Jeffrey Clarke said.
The court heard following that complaint, police attended the shop and interviewed Wu who admitted to the offending but said he "thought she would enjoy it".
"You said other things that demonstrated a complete lack of appreciation of the serious or enormity of what you had done," Judge Clarke said.
Police then seized Wu's phone and uncovered conduct towards two other women, aged 27 and 53, involving "surreptitious" photos taken of their genitals.
'Creepy and sneaky'
Judge Clarke said Wu committed the offences in a "particularly creepy and sneaky way".
"Such that some of them [the women] weren't actually aware that you had committed some offences," he said.
"It's clear to me you did this for your own sexual gratification.
"You held a trusted position. These women, strangers to you, came to be treated for pain and stress and discomfort.
"You took advantage of that opportunity when they were partially clothed and completely vulnerable to you … to offend against them was a wicked breach of that trusted position."
Crown prosecutor Joshua Phillips told the court Wu's acts were a "gross breach of trust between practitioner and client".
Mr Phillips told the court one of the 27-year-old victims said in her victim impact statement that the sexual assault "made her want to peel the skin off her own body".
Judge Clarke, also reading from the woman's statement, said "she felt violated, understandably, because she was".
"She had to leave her job, she couldn't sleep, and she lost her sense of self," he said.
Defence lawyer Andrew Hoare told the court the offending was "out of character" as Wu had no criminal history, and that his partner "remained supportive of him".
The court heard Wu was born in Taiwan and travelled to Australia for a working holiday with his partner in 2014, the pair working predominantly in massage parlours until 2020.
Judge Clarke said the length of the sentence would likely mean Wu, a non-citizen, would also be deported.
Wu was given a head sentence of three years imprisonment, suspended after 14 months.
As Wu's bail was revoked at the end of January he has already served 18 days of his sentence.
