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Allegations of Sexual
Abuse in NZ |
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The patients alleging sexual abuse
by their New Plymouth doctor were all mistaken, the accused told the High
Court yesterday. Rather than labelling all the 12
women complainants liars, the doctor told the court they were mostly mistaken
or misunderstood what was happening during their consultations. The doctor, whose name is
suppressed, was being cross-examined by Crown prosecutor Cherie Clarke on the
first day of the fourth week of the trial. He has denied 37 charges of sexual
assault, alleged to have occurred between 1981 and 2002. Ms Clarke took the doctor through
each complainant's evidence. "There is no medical reason
for a doctor to manually stimulate a woman's clitoris," Ms Clarke asked.
"That's correct,"
replied the doctor. Ms Clarke asked if that meant a
complainant was lying when she earlier gave evidence that she believed that
was what the doctor was doing. "No, misinterpreted," he
said. Ms Clarke asked about one of the
complainants, who said she had stripped naked for a vaginal examination,
despite the doctor having said that was not his normal practice. "So why did she strip
naked?" "She would have
misinterpreted my instructions," the doctor said. Several of the complainants had
experienced other intimate examinations with the doctor which they had no
concerns about. Ms Clarke put it to the doctor
that that meant they could hardly be mistaken, because they knew what the
examination should involve. "Ms (complainant's name) is
another woman who you say is mistaken in her description of you rolling her
nipple. There is no medical reason for you to roll her nipples like that, is
there?" The doctor denied touching a
woman's nipple during an acupuncture treatment on her back. "That's another complainant
lying then, doctor," Ms Clarke said. "I don't know, she is not
correct," the doctor said. He said evidence where
complainants said they felt his erect penis being pressed against them was
untrue. Ms Clarke asked the doctor why he
did not offer female patients a cover while he did intimate examinations. The doctor said a cover was
available to them and it was their choice. "But for a patient to have
the choice doctor, you have to offer it to them," Ms Clarke said. She put it to the doctor that a
teenager coming for a vaginal examination may not know it was her choice.
"Do you accept that?" "No, because a blanket is at
the end of the bed and it's there for them." The doctor told Ms Clarke that his
medical practices had not changed since the early 1980s. The trial continues today. |
