The defense attorney for former Concord High School teacher Howie Leung has filed a motion asking for the state of Massachusetts to provide more information regarding the mental health treatment of Leung’s alleged victim.
Attorney Ghazi Al-Marayati appeared in Middlesex Superior Court in Woburn, Mass., on Friday morning with prosecutor Radu Brestyan for Leung’s compliance hearing, which was conducted off the record with the assistant clerk magistrate and not in the presence of a judge.
Al-Marayati wants the state to disclose the identity of the health professional who provided mental health treatment to the former Concord student who alleges that Leung sexually assaulted her at the Fessenden Summer ELL Program in 2015 and 2016 when she was 13 and 14 years old.
According to evidence provided by the state, the student received mental health treatment before making allegations against Leung but did not mention during treatment that any abuse by Leung had taken place.
Al-Marayati refers to the health care worker in the document as “the witness,” and says the student and her parents told law enforcement officials several times that mental health counseling had taken place, but the officials didn’t get the details about the provider.
“The enforcement failed simply to ask the complainant to provide the identity of her treatment provider,” Al-Marayati wrote. “Likewise, the Commonwealth has not sought this information, despite access to the complainant.”
At the same time, Al-Marayati also filed a motion asking for more information about the accusations against Leung, and seeking to know the angle that the prosecutors will use to argue the case. The prosecution is expected to argue that Leung, in his role as a teacher, was a mandated reporter and legally required to ensure the reporting of any observed or suspected abuse of a student.
Leung himself was present during the Friday hearing while the motions were being filed, but he remained seated in the back and did not participate in the discussion that took place quietly with the assistant clerk magistrate.
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.
Leung will next appear in court Feb. 27 for a hearing on the motions that were filed Friday. His final pre-trial conference is scheduled for May 28, and the trial is slated to begin June 8.