Tim Tse was a student studying for a Master's degree at the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee in January 2006, when he allegedly sexually assaulted a female student H.Y.T. from Taiwan.
Tse was arrested at a border crossing when he was traveling to mainland from Hong Kong in January 2013. The Chinese authority contacted the US when his name triggered an alarm on computer screen. Tse was sent back to Hong Kong from where he was extradited to the US. Although there was no extradition agreement between the US and China, there is such agreement between Hong Kong and the US.
According to the police, Tse, having his face covered with a ski mask, broke in the 26 years old victim's residence on S Riverwood Blvd where she was sleeping at the time and drugged her by placing a soaked rag soaked with a toxic chemical over her mouth. Tse then showered her and forced a pill down her throat. The woman was beat and raped. Tse also took photos of the naked victim.
The woman was not able to name a suspect, but Tse contacted the police one week later. Tse initially admitted to police that he was angry with the woman for a variety of reasons and wanted to take nude photos and posted them online to humiliate her. Tse then claimed he was not provided proper legal advice, and tried to suppress the confession.
Tse was arrested and charged with second degree sexual assault and burglary on Nov 14, 2006. He was assigned a public defender, being indigent; however, managed to post a bond of $100,000 in cash the same day. Tse's girlfriend posted the bond on Nov 16 with money wired by Tse's family. Tse boarded a United flight to Hong Kong at O'Hare in Chicago on Nov 19.
Wisconsin v. Tim Tse, 2006CF006108
This time, Tse's bond was set at $5 million. On Oct 22, 2013, Tse pled guilty on Burglary. The court dismissed Secual Assault charge.
Tse's next court appearance will be on Dec 6, 2013. Tse is represented by Dean A. Strang, who has extensive trial experience including in the SCOTUS.
A April 16, 2007 youtube video claimed Tim Tse was from Shanghai, China. Court record also showed Tse claimed he was a native Mandarin speaker. However, based on the way the name is spelled, the Seagull is positive that he must not be from the mainland. Hong Kong is possible, though. Charles Stone, the victim's friend and a lawyer, said Tse was a Chinese citizen. On the other hand, towards the end of the video, the news anchor said the at large Tse could be on an airplane to Hong Kong.
When Tse was apprehended and brought back to the US a few months ago, local TV station FOX6 proclaimed that regardless the result of the trial, Tse would be registered as a secual offender for the rest of his life. It did not go that way.
Update: Franklin Now has a detailed recount of the saga:
According to the 2006 criminal complaint and Franklin Police Department police reports:
The attack occurred in the woman's apartment in the 6900 block of South Riverwood Boulevard between Nov. 4 and 5, 2006. The victim, who was 26 at the time, told police she was sleeping in her bed when a man placed a rag containing some sort of chemical over her mouth, hit her and choked her several times. He pulled off her pajama bottoms and underwear and fondled her underneath her pajama top.
The woman told police that during this time she saw flashes, which led her to believe the man was taking pictures of her while she was partly nude.
The man then took her into the bathroom and placed her in the shower, where he tied her up, placed a towel over her face and attempted to force a pill down her throat. She spit the pill into the shower when she heard the man leave the room, and when he returned he dragged her by her shoulders and hair back into the bedroom, where he left her lying on the floor.
The victim stated that she was lightheaded and dizzy, and went in and out of consciousness several times during the attack.
After the man left her bedroom, the woman grabbed her cellphone and dialed 911. Officers found the woman lying on her bedroom floor, shaking uncontrollably, with a towel covering the bottom portion of her body. The Franklin Fire Department took her to the hospital for evaluation and treatment.
About a week after the incident, police received a call from the victim's boyfriend, who stated that Tse had just confessed to attacking the woman.
"I guess he was feeling some pangs of guilt after the attack," Spak said, "so he decided to tell the victim's boyfriend, who then called us."
When questioned by police, Tse, who was dating the victim's roommate at the time, told officers he was angry at the victim for a variety of reasons that he never explained and planned the attack out of revenge, according to the criminal complaint. He stated he wanted to take pictures of the victim without her clothes on and post them on the Internet to humiliate her.
Franklin detectives later searched Tse's home in the 1600 block of North Prospect Avenue in Milwaukee, where they seized all computers, hard drives, monitors, storage disks, CDs and DVDs, along with any cameras or chemicals. However, police never found any pictures or video of the victim, police reports state.
"He never actually posted the pictures on the Internet, or did anything else with them," Spak said. "To our knowledge he destroyed the camera, and all the photos along with it."
Tse admitted to entering the woman's home using her roommate's key, and using a chemical-soaked rag to render her unconscious. He also admitted to groping the victim because he wanted to scare her and "make her believe she was going to be sexually assaulted," and to taking pictures of her in various stages of undress, according to the complaint.
It goes on to state that Tse told police he stole several items before leaving the apartment because he believed it would be better for him if he made the incident look more like a burglary.
