Concord High School teacher Howie Leung is due to be released on bail after his defense attorney told a Massachusetts judge he has not been receiving the medical care he needs for a tumor.
Leung’s bail was lowered to $7,500 Tuesday, an amount his attorney says Leung is able to post.
At a bail hearing at Middlesex Superior Court in Woburn, Mass., defense attorney Ghazi Al-Marayati told the court that Leung was diagnosed in March with an adenoma, a growth on the pituitary gland near his brain, but has not been able to followup with doctors due to his detention.
“He is not receiving medical care and he is certainly not receiving the medical care that members of the Concord Hospital think is necessary,” Al-Marayati said.
Leung entered the courtroom shackled at the hands and feet, wearing khaki pants, a blue oxford shirt and black sneakers with orange laces. He greeted the judge quietly and a court officer removed his handcuffs under the judge’s direction.
During the hearing, Leung sat with his arms folded in a seat beside his attorney.
Al-Marayati told the court that adenomas like Leung’s can be benign, but can also cause hormonal problems and put pressure on the optic nerve or the brain. He made a motion to file Leung’s medical records, as well as some articles he found on pubmed.gov about the condition.
Judge John Lu, who presided over the hearing, listened but appeared skeptical of medical information delivered in an oral argument.
“I can tell you right now, I am not going to release anyone based on oral representation of a medical issue,” Lu said.
Nevertheless, Lu agreed to approve a change to Leung’s bail conditions, allowing him to travel to New Hampshire for medical, court and legal reasons as long has he gives 48 hours notice.
Leung is facing two charges of aggravated rape of a child with a 10-year age difference, two charges of aggravated indecent assault and battery on a child under age 14, and two counts of aggravated indecent assault and battery on a person age 14 or older. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
He is accused of repeatedly sexually assaulting a former Concord student during the summers of 2015 and 2016 at the Fessenden Summer ELL Program in Newton, Mass., when the student was 13 and 14 years old, according to court documents.
In April, Leung’s bail was set at $50,000 by Judge Mary Heffernan of Newton District Court in Massachusetts. When he was arraigned in superior court July 1, that amount was lowered to $25,000 by Clerk Magistrate Daniel Flaherty, an amount that prosecuting attorney Radu Brestyan said is “very reasonable under the circumstances.”
Since April, Brestyan has argued that Leung is a “high flight risk,” due to connections abroad through the Fessenden International School and through his mother, who owns a “lucrative” sporting goods company in Hong Kong and has been known to send him money.
Tuesday, Brestyan also argued that Leung’s actions of secretly giving $24,000 cash to a Concord High School student on March 27 and attempting suicide on March 28 were “very consistent signs of someone who does not want to face allegations.”
But Al-Marayati said that most of Leung’s ties are to New Hampshire where his children live, and where he has resided for the last two decades.
“He has been out of the country one time in the last eight years, so he is not a frequent traveler,” Al-Marayati said.
Lu lowered Leung’s bail to $7,500, an amount al-Marayati says Leung is able to afford.
Lu also approved a change to Leung’s bail conditions, allowing him to travel to New Hampshire for medical, court and legal reasons as long as he gives 48 hours notice.Otherwise, Leung must remain in Massachusetts, keep a curfew and be monitored by a GPS ankle device. He cannot contact the victim, and is not permitted contact with any child under age 16.
Lu added another bail condition that Leung is not permitted to apply for any government identification documents without permission from probation services. Leung surrendered his passport to Newton District Court earlier this month, following a previous court order.
Leung will appear in court next on Sept. 12 for a compliance hearing. Until then, he will reside at an address in Massachusetts that has not yet been determined, but will be provided and approved by probation services.
A final trial conference has been scheduled for May 28, 2020 and the trial will begin June 8, 2020.