Rapist Doctor Preyed On Patients

The Age

Tuesday March 4, 2008

By Sarah-Jane Collins

A DOCTOR who raped or indecently assaulted 14 patients over a six-year period was "looking after his own pernicious needs", a Victorian County Court judge said yesterday.

Dermatologist David Wee Kin Tong, 40, pleaded guilty to seven counts of rape and seven of indecent assault at his Clifton Hill, Malvern and Preston practices between 2001 and 2007.

Despite two of his victims complaining to the Medical Practitioners Board in 2004 and 2005, he was allowed to continue practising and did not stop offending, prosecutor Claire Quin said.

She told Judge Geoffrey Chettle that Tong requested that the women submit to a full body examination. He felt their genitals and in some cases took photos of them naked without consent, using his mobile phone.

Ms Quin said some victims noticed Tong sweating and panting during examinations.

The offences were discovered when one client told a friend, a police officer, of her concerns. Police found 120 explicit photographs of naked women, including patients, at Tong's home.

Tong was stopped by customs officers in 2007 at Melbourne Airport.

A search revealed 27 explicit photos of eight of his clients on his mobile phone.

In a victim impact statement read to the court, one victim said she was angry that the medical board had not taken her complaint more seriously. "All of it could have been avoided had the medical board acted," she said.

Judge Chettle said Tong's behaviour reflected poorly on "the male race as a whole".

Jane Dixon, SC, for Tong, said her client had been under pressure because of the death of his father. He had trouble relating to women because of his strict Pentecostal upbringing. He had had only one serious relationship, at 21, which had ended badly and had devastated him. The plea hearing continues.

© 2008 The Age

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