Toronto pharmacist re-arrested on drug, sexual assault charges months after prison release

Allen Chow, 73, was released in March 2025 after serving time for assaulting 18 women. He now faces new charges of drugging and sexually assaulting another victim.

Convicted sex offender Allen Chow faces new assault charges after early release

A 73-year-old former Toronto pharmacist on statutory release has been arrested and charged with sexually assaulting a woman, according to National Post Crime, which first reported the case last week.

Allen Siu Ming Chow, who had been released from federal prison in March 2025, is now facing allegations that he drugged and sexually assaulted an adult woman on multiple occasions between December 2025 and April 2026 — and recorded the encounters without her knowledge.

New charges follow nine-year sentence

Chow was released after serving approximately nine years and four months of a 14-year sentence. He had been convicted on 36 counts of administering a stupefying drug and sexually assaulting 18 women between 2009 and 2012.

The Oakville man is now charged with overcoming resistance by administering or attempting to administer a drug, sexual assault causing bodily harm, and voyeurism.

Peel Regional Police stated in a Saturday press release that between December 2025 and April 2026, Chow allegedly met an adult female victim online before meeting her in person on multiple occasions. "During these encounters, the accused allegedly rendered the victim unconscious and unresponsive before sexually assaulting her," police wrote, adding that he used his phone to record the sexual acts "without the victim's knowledge or consent."

Investigators from the police service's special victims unit believe there may be additional victims.

Background: 70 hours of recorded assaults

Chow was previously the owner, manager, and licensed dispensing pharmacist at Bridletowne Pharmacy in Toronto, as documented in a sanctioning decision by the Ontario College of Pharmacists. Police were en route to arrest him on a sexual assault allegation on December 4, 2012, when they observed him stagger out of his pharmacy and enter a vehicle while severely impaired.

A subsequent search of his residence uncovered several camera memory cards containing 70 hours of footage across 95 separate videos. The recordings showed Chow engaged "in all manner of sexual activity" with female sex workers who had been rendered unconscious using drinks or food laced with Lorazepam, according to a sentencing decision by Ontario Superior Court Justice Gregory Mulligan.

"Chow subjected his victims to degrading and dehumanizing activity," including spitting on them and having unprotected sex, according to the agreed statement of facts cited by the judge. "He treated the women as objects, manipulating their bodies as he pleased."

When Chow completed his conduct, Mulligan noted, he "showed no concern for his victims' recovery or ability to get home safely," routinely leaving his victims in hotel rooms "to regain consciousness on their own." Some women were victimized more than a dozen times each.

Victims described lasting psychological harm

Many victims submitted impact statements at Chow's November 2015 sentencing. Several read them aloud before the then 62-year-old.

"I have had numerous hospitalizations for suicide attempts and post-traumatic disorder from what happened to me," one victim stated. "He, of all people, a medical professional, purposely and knowingly preyed on me numerous times."

Another told the court: "When I think of you, my chest gets tight, I feel sick to my stomach. I have had some major anxiety attacks when thinking about what you have done to not only me, but many other women and young ladies."

A third victim said she felt sick watching her own video statement in court. "When I got home that was all I could think about, I cried constantly and didn't even want to hold my daughter because I didn't think I was good enough," she said.

During a forensic psychiatric evaluation requested by the defence, Chow reportedly told psychiatrists he "felt justified in making them unconscious for sexual gratification" because his victims were sex workers providing a paid service.

At sentencing, Chow addressed the court and apologized to his victims, describing his actions as "callous, heinous, selfish and degrading."

Psychiatric assessment flagged risk of reoffending

Chow's psychiatric evaluation determined he had begun drinking heavily in the three years prior to his first arrest, following a prostate cancer diagnosis — including while working at his pharmacy. He was found to present with major depression without psychotic features, alcoholism, and paraphilia, specifically sexual sadism, which the evaluating psychiatrist described as a "lifelong disorder."

"He stated that if a person in these circumstances were to re-offend, it would more likely be the same type of offence, and that once these offences start, they can escalate over time," Justice Mulligan wrote, summarizing the psychiatric findings.

Recommended treatment — counselling and pharmacological castration — could not be made mandatory by the court, requiring Chow's voluntary participation.

According to court records, Chow immigrated from Hong Kong on a student visa to attend York University, where he met his wife of over 30 years. The couple share an adult daughter. He had operated his Toronto pharmacy for 17 years at the time of his first arrest.

Source: National Post Crime