Swedish businessman jailed for 7 years over raping domestic worker in Hong Kong home
Hong Kong Free Press
A Swedish businessman has been jailed for seven years after earlier being convicted unanimously by a jury of raping a domestic worker he employed.
Patrik Tobias Ekstrom, 36, appeared at the High Court on Monday to hear his sentence. He was found guilty of one count of rape and one count of non-consensual buggery in a trial in August presided over by a seven-member jury, and has been remanded since the verdict.
The case relates to an incident in October 2022 involving his then-domestic worker, identified only as X. During the trial, X, who is from Nepal, told the court that when Ekstrom returned to his Shek O home late on October 27, 2022, he forced her into his bedroom for sex and had appeared drunk.
Ekstrom, however, testified that the two of them had had an intimate relationship before the incident, having twice had sex in his bedroom in July 2022 upon her initiation. He also said that X had asked for help repaying a loan while they were having sex.
Handing down the sentence, judge Derek Chan said he took Ekstrom’s diagnosis of bipolar affective disorder in November 2022 into account, accepting that his mental state had played a part in his offence.
The judge added that Ekstrom had faced “significant stressors” at the time, including problems with his business, his deteriorating relationship with his wife and his stepfather’s worsening health. From mid-2022, his mental health had been unstable and he had turned to alcohol and substance abuse, Chan said.
But he also cited a psychological report of Ekstrom, which found his chances of committing another sexual offence on the “high end of the moderate risk.” Ekstrom was also “obviously in a position of power” over X, and the act constituted a “gross breach of trust,” Chan added.
Following the incident, X experienced symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder such as nightmares, insomnia and frequent flashbacks. She has been living in a woman’s shelter and received no income in this time, Chan said.
He handed down a seven-year jail term for the rape offence and a four-year sentence for the non-consensual buggery offence. The terms are to be served concurrently as they arose from a single incident, Chan said.
Under Hong Kong law, rape and non-consensual buggery are punishable by up to life imprisonment.
Chan added that Ekstrom now abstained from alcohol and substance abuse and that his mental health had improved, per the psychological report. Regardless, he had minimised the harm done to X and had expressed no remorse, Chan said
The judge said he did not agree with Ekstrom’s lawyer Simon So’s suggestion that the psychological assessment should be disregarded on the basis that Ekstrom’s mental health had improved. Chan said the report was not based just on his mental health issues but a “persistent sense of loneliness” and his use of sex as a coping mechanism.
‘Out of character’
The seven-day trial saw Ekstrom and X, as well as other witnesses including a security guard at Ekstrom’s Shek O residence and a forensic pathologist who examined X, give evidence to the court.
On the last day of the trial, So said Ekstrom had been arrested over four suspected offences soon after the rape, including one charge linked to a car crash a week after. He also made a false report to the police and was arrested over two cases of criminal damage, So said.
Besides a drink-driving offence in 2013, So said Ekstrom had a clear record.
“All of a sudden, in two to three weeks he had all these… that must be done out of character,” So said.
During the trial, So repeatedly called X a liar, saying the sex had been consensual.
He pointed to X’s medical assessment after the rape, which found no recent identifiable injuries on X, including on her intimate areas.
Meanwhile, prosecutor Diane Crebbin said Ekstrom’s evidence had been inconsistent and not credible.
Recounting parts of X’s testimony, Crebbin said the fact that X was prepared to leave her job even though it was important to her livelihood was strong evidence that the defendant had made unwanted sexual advances.
She also referred to So’s earlier cross-examination of X, in which So suggested that X could easily have resisted.
She said X had explained that she was not able to fight back, and that did not mean she consented to the sexual acts to come.
Regarding Ekstrom’s statements that he was devastated the night of the rape because his wife and children had left earlier that day, Crebbin suggested it was not believable that he would accept the alleged advances from X under such circumstances.
She said Ekstrom appeared to be a man “wanting to satisfy sexual desires” rather than somebody worried about his wife and family.
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