An east coast bed and breakfast owner suspected of drugging and assaulting women staying in his guest house was taken into custody on Thursday following a request by prosecutors investigating the case.
Prosecutors suspect that the suspect, surnamed Lee (李), gave cake laced with a sleeping drug to a mother and daughter who were staying at his B&B in Hualien in August and then took advantage of their unconscious state to assault them.
ALLEGATIONS
According to Hualien police reports, the women awoke feeling that they had been violated and reported their suspicions to the police.
During the following investigation, a syringe and cake found at the guesthouse were sent for forensic examination.
TESTS
Test results showed that the cake contained the sleeping drug Zolpidem, used for the treatment of insomnia.
Lee, who had remained free since the suspected assault, was questioned for an hour by the Hualien District Prosecutors’ Office.
Head Prosecutor Hsu Jian-rong (許建榮) said after the questioning that the prosecutors applied to the Hualien District Court for Lee to be detained, since there was a risk of him fleeing.
OUT OF SIGHT
According to media reports, since closing the B&B and moving house, Lee had not appeared in public. For the previous two weeks, his friends denied all the allegations on his behalf.
Lee, who turned up for the hearing on time, refused to answer to his name and was led away in handcuffs.
The charge of indecent assault carries a maximum prison sentence of five years, but in itself does not satisfy the conditions for a suspect’s detention, according to Taiwanese law.
A risk of absconding to escape justice, however, allows for suspects to be remanded in custody.
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