Family First NZ is calling for the doctor who pleaded guilty to possessing images of child sex to be named.
In a decision released by the Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal yesterday, the doctor had his registration suspended for nine months from the date of the hearing – July 26, 2010.
“Patients and parents should be informed so that they can make an informed choice as to whether they continue having him as their family doctor, even after his nine month suspension,” says Bob McCroskie, national director of Family First NZ.
“The doctor in question admitted 25 charges of possessing objectionable material and one charge of distributing an objectionable publication. He not only had 290,000 images of young girls in explicit sexual poses but as well as that, the doctor was found to be distributing objectionable material further. This is not a one-off slip.”
The tribunal said the public had a legitimate expectation that their medical practitioners would behave in a morally and ethically acceptable way and the punishment handed down to the doctor had to reflect that.
"This type of offending does deserve condemnation from the tribunal and a recognition that the tribunal has a role in maintaining public standards. Both of these factors could make cancellation of (the doctor's) registration the appropriate penalty," the decision read.
Mr McCoskrie says the rights of the doctor to name suppression and privacy should not be greater than the right of patients.
“That is the price the doctor must pay to match the gravity of the abuse of children. Many parents would rightly be concerned at a doctor with those convictions examining their young son or daughter,” says Mr McCroskie.
“Parents should be given the right to make an informed decision.”
The tribunal also imposed several conditions for three years after the suspension ended, including that he comply with ongoing counselling, ongoing oversight by the health committee of the Medical Council, and that he undergo a psychiatric assessment confirming fitness to practise before he was reregistered. He was also ordered to pay $6000 costs.
In its findings, the tribunal said the doctor had a psychiatric diagnosis of paraphilia, which involved compulsive masturbation and the use of images when masturbating. This was apparently under control as a result of medication he was now taking.
3 News / NZPA