Man jailed for enslaving, assaulting vulnerable woman in Melbourne home

A man who kept a vulnerable woman as a slave for nine months has been jailed for the “callous and cruel” offending.

Chee Kit “Max” Chong, 47, did not react on the video link from custody as he was sentenced on Friday to six years behind bars.

He was found guilty in May of intentionally possessing the 61-year-old Malaysian woman as a slave and one count of assault.

A County Court trial heard the woman, who cannot be legally identified, escaped from Chong’s Melbourne home in October 2022.

He had kept her as a slave since January of that year and controlled her access to the outside world as she was made to clean and care for his children unpaid.

Chong also threatened and coerced the woman to provide domestic services, including massaging his feet, under threat of assault or hunger.

County Court Judge Peter Cahill on Friday determined Chong’s moral culpability was high.

“Your treatment of her was callous and cruel,” the judge said.

“You exploited her vulnerabilities to use her as your property.”

Chong must serve four years before he is eligible for parole, and will likely be deported to his native Malaysia at the end of his sentence.

Chong’s wife, Angie Liaw, 32, was also accused of assisting her husband and she too faced trial.

But on May 7, Cahill found her not guilty of the offence and told the jury she should be acquitted as a matter of law.

AAP

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