Prominent Canberra doctor refused bail over alleged abuse of four women

CONTENT WARNING: This article refers to alleged sexual abuse.

A highly regarded Canberra doctor who is “a person of power” has been refused bail over allegations he abused four women over several years.

The doctor, who legally cannot be named due to a non-publication order, is alleged to have sexually, physically or indecently abused four women employed by his clinic between 2021 and 2024.

At least three of the women were young, Magistrate Jane Campbell told the ACT Magistrates Court on Friday (24 January), while the doctor had “an extremely high reputation in this community”.

The court heard details of some of the allegations. For instance, some abuse was alleged to have been committed when cocaine and alcohol had been used, while one of the women claimed the doctor told her he was a “sex addict”.

The first woman alleged she had used an iPad to take photos of an injury the doctor inflicted on her, before he returned to the room and said, “My security told me you were doing something like this”. He then took the iPad and deleted the photos.

This woman also said she told the doctor not to contact her unless for work three times between July and August 2024, but he allegedly still sent her 360 messages over Facebook and 30 messages via WhatsApp.

Another of the allegations was said to have been committed while the doctor was in an Uber vehicle with a different woman.

Last, it is alleged police found a video showing the doctor having sex with one of the women when she was “clearly going in and out of consciousness”, Magistrate Campbell said.

The doctor was arrested on Thursday (23 January) and was handed 20 charges before he applied for bail on Friday, which was opposed by the prosecution.

Magistrate Campbell said the four women were all concerned for their safety.

“They are also concerned because of [the doctor’s] reputation and status in the community, and they feel very vulnerable because he is a person of power,” she said.

The magistrate said when police raided the doctor’s home and clinic, they found “fail-safe” devices, which contained apps that could delete data remotely.

Police had found a “vast” amount of data on the devices, which could take up to seven days to obtain as officers needed assistance from Apple to access his iCloud account, she said. She said it was data that could easily be deleted remotely.

Magistrate Campbell thought the risk of the doctor interfering with evidence was “very likely”.

“I have to be concerned about other young women in the community who he may have contact with,” she said at the end of the lengthy debate.

She noted the impact the doctor’s incarceration would have on his patients, but said it was not the court’s role to work out what would happen to them.

She refused bail, remanded the doctor in custody and adjourned the matter to February.

When the bail application began, the doctor’s barrister, Joshua Nottle, successfully applied for a non-publication order over the names of the doctor and his clinic, which means they legally cannot be published.

Mr Nottle had said none of the women worked at the clinic anymore or had any contact with his client.

“These are, at the moment, allegations,” he also said.

No pleas were entered to the charges, which include six counts of assault, two counts of sexual intercourse without consent, seven counts of committing acts of indecency, one count of attempted sexual intercourse without consent and two counts of using a carriage service to menace, harass or cause offence.

If this story has raised any concerns for you, 1800RESPECT, the national 24-hour sexual assault, family and domestic violence counselling line, can be contacted on 1800 737 732 or by visiting www.1800respect.org.au. Help and support are also available through the Canberra Rape Crisis Centre on 02 6247 2525, the Domestic Violence Crisis Service ACT 02 6280 0900, the Sexual Violence Legal Services on 6257 4377 and Lifeline on 13 11 14. In an emergency, call triple zero.