57 |
violence , that is the humiliation |
spend time in jail ( where , according |
his name outrageous . It was just |
Royal Australian and New Zealand |
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and the altered world views that |
to his lawyers , he was threatened |
another way of making me feel |
College of Radiologists ] became my |
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victims are left with that are just |
and moved between different facil- |
insignificant . |
mentors , in a way . |
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not talked about enough , I think . |
ities ), his sentence was cut to nine |
“ My self-confidence is so dam- |
“ They were just really good peo- |
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Because if people knew , I think it |
months . |
aged that I find anything really |
ple ; they were the ones who asked |
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would be very hard to minimise the |
For those who may be assuming |
quite hard to do . But I wrote a let- |
me to apply for the job that got me |
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consequences of these assaults .” |
that Professor Kearsley ’ s actions , |
ter to the judge , and I sat on it for |
back into radiation oncology . |
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Court case
In 2016 , Professor Kearsley pleaded
|
disturbing though they were , were strictly a one-off , a product of stress , a difficult professional life |
maybe three months , and then I finally sent it , outlining how appalled I am that no-one con- |
“ But I think it was their thing as opposed to a college thing . Because if the college was really |
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guilty to indecent assault and |
and depressive illness , it is worth |
tacted me .” |
shocked and appalled by what had |
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administering an intoxicating substance to commit an indictable offence . |
pointing out that a few months after his sentence was commuted , he was convicted of another inde- |
The future
Dr Lee eventually moved to Bris-
|
occurred , then I think it would have , by now , put in a system or some sort of oversight to help its |
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He was sentenced to two years |
cent assault . |
bane to escape the attention . |
own members in the future . |
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and three months in jail . |
This assault happened in |
From the moment Professor |
Dr Lee believes hospitals — with |
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The experience was traumatic |
December 2012 , a year before he |
Kearsley was charged , Dr Lee ’ s real |
reputations to protect — should not |
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for Dr Lee . |
invited Dr Lee to his home to dis- |
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“ The whole court process is a |
cuss her future career options . |
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way of , well , telling you where your place is and how important you are |
The victim was the daughter of one of his elderly prostate cancer |
AAP |
||||||||
… or not important you are ,” she |
patients . |
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says . |
According to an ABC News story |
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“ People testified for his char- |
on the case , he had invited her to |
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acter ; they stood in the courtroom |
his office to discuss him writing a |
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and went on about how amazing |
case report about her father . |
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this person is . These were people I |
He served canapés and cham- |
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worked with . And I was like , ‘ What |
pagne and then took her on a tour |
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is wrong with you ? He just pleaded |
of the clinic ’ s new facilities . |
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guilty .’” |
During the tour , he asked : |
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During a motion hearing after |
“ Your mother died of breast cancer ; |
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that guilty plea , Dr Lee says a law- |
didn ’ t she ?” |
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yer referred to the fact she was |
She said yes , and he offered |
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married and pregnant and that this |
to conduct a breast examination , |
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meant she was not as affected by |
which she accepted . |
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the attack as she was suggesting . |
Soon after they returned to his |
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“ I just couldn ’ t believe what I |
office , she undressed , and he began |
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So Dr Lee accepted a palliative care fellowship at Westmead Hospital . |
was hearing . And on the day when my victim impact statement was read out , I was so distraught , I couldn ’ t even do it . My friend had to go and read it on my behalf .”
Then , as she was leaving the
|
squeezing her breasts and inappropriately touching her nipples .
When there was a sudden knock on the door , Professor Kearsley answered it , and she was able to dress herself and eventually leave
|
identity was kept from the public domain . To the wider world , her identity as one of Professor Kearsley ’ s victims has been unknown .
But then , in August this year ,
|
be responsible for investigating assaults .
“ It has come to my attention that there is a [ federal ] Respect @ Work Act , which was revised after
|
Professor John Kearsley leaves Sutherland Court House , 9 October 2017 . |
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She stayed in the position until |
courtroom , a senior executive from |
his office and the hospital . |
there were more media headlines |
the National Inquiry into Sexual |
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some of her colleagues suggested |
St George Hospital chased after her . |
She complained to police three |
on the bullying and sexual assault |
Harassment in Australian Work- |
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she apply for a radiation fellowship . |
“ She came to watch the trial , |
years later when her sister told her |
faced by female surgeons in the |
places , where the onus is put back |
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“ Working in that radiation |
and she told me , ‘ We had a bet |
of the media coverage surrounding |
UK . |
on the employer if they do not |
||||||
oncology department was very , |
within our office that you would |
his attack on Dr Lee . |
A survey published in the Brit- |
handle these harassment matters |
||||||
very difficult just because I was |
win .’ |
“ She had been blaming herself |
ish Journal of Surgery found that |
adequately . |
||||||
always looking over my shoulder , |
“ I remember thinking , ‘ You |
for allowing herself to get into that |
two-thirds of female surgeons had |
“ It was designed to prevent |
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wondering if people were talking |
guys had a bet about my life ? This is |
situation . But then she realised that |
been sexually harassed and a third |
people in situations like mine from |
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about me . |
not a joke to me .’” |
it was not her ,” Dr Lee says . |
sexually assaulted by colleagues |
being silenced , I suppose , or their |
||||||
“ In hindsight , I was experienc- |
Dr Lee was also angry over the |
Professor Kearsley was again |
over the past five years . |
cases mishandled . |
||||||
ing a lot of PTSD , and I could not |
comments running through social |
charged and convicted at Suth- |
And 11 % of female surgeons |
“ And no-one in medicine even |
||||||
really speak in front of people . So I |
media about the case . |
erland Court House in 2017 and |
reported forced physical contact |
knows about it . And that just says |
||||||
have no idea how I got through that |
Although Professor Kearsley |
required to perform 340 hours of |
related to career opportunities . |
everything .” |
||||||
time working in the capacity that I |
had not pleaded guilty until the day |
community work . |
Eleven doctors said they had been |
She continues : “ Our sys- |
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did for almost two years .” |
before the trial , she said many peo- |
According to reports , his victim |
raped . |
tem allows abusers to rise up |
||||||
Dr Lee also had to deal with |
ple commented that the plea meant |
had a nervous breakdown . |
This was the main reason Dr |
the ranks without being held to |
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|
inappropriate comments from people who were aware Professor Kearsley had been charged .
“ People would say , ‘ Oh hey , I trained at St George . I hear that you were there as well . What happened to Professor Kearsley ?’
|
he could not have been that bad of a person .
Then Professor Kearsley ’ s sentence was reduced .
The appeal court judges wrote he had a very strong case because of his “ extraordinary service to the
|
Tribunal hearing
All along , Dr Lee says her number
one aim was to ensure Professor Kearsley was deregistered to protect the public .
Although a select few — both in
|
Lee decided to talk publicly .
“ It has been 10 years since my case , and it was an unprecedented case ,” she said .
“ I had always hoped that one day I would be in a strong enough position where I would be able to
|
account .
“ In medicine , people think that the normal rules of [ society ] do not apply to us . I do not think this is a problem we can fix from within our institutions .”
|
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|
“ Or , ‘ He was really wonderful to me . I can ’ t believe this happened ,’ or , ‘ I can ’ t believe he would do that to someone ,’ or something along those lines .
“ It would take a lot of strength for me to get out of the house and go to a gathering , like a meeting .
|
medical profession and , through it , to the community at large ”.
Part of the submission to the appeal court was that Professor Kearsley had been experiencing major depression at the time of his offence , that he was in psychological decline , that he was
|
and outside the medical profession — know of his exact fate , the tribunal that sanctioned him issued a non-publication order on his name , essentially preventing the linking in the public domain of any of the details of the tribunal case to Professor Kearsley himself . |
speak about my experience so that I could help other people .
“ Too often I see stories on the news or other outlets where , because of sexual assault , women end up dying by suicide . Or more commonly , I think in our field , the victims leave their field , or it is
|
If this news story has raised issues for you or you are concerned about someone you know , you can call the following support services 24 hours a day , seven days a week : |
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Those kinds of inappropriate comments just became a bit too hard .
“ I used to be super social , very extroverted . I used to know everyone in the hospital . And even though it has been 10 years and I feel like I am much better , I still
|
drunk on the night he attacked Dr Lee and that he “ may ” have used lorazepam .
One of the appeal court judges wrote : “ While his precise motivation for the offences is not known , due to his lack of memory , it is
|
The only clues of what had happened ended up being the conditions it imposed , which were listed on the AHPRA register .
Dr Lee says nobody contacted her to give evidence .
She only realised there had been
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something that drives people out of the hospital system .” Dr Lee says the fight continues . She is aware of a female doctor who has been forced to keep working with her rapist .
She believes AHPRA or an
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Doctors ’ health services :
ACT : 1300 374 377 NSW : 02 9437 6552 NT : 08 8366 0250 Queensland : 07 3833 4352
|
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retreat .
“ I have a very small circle of trusted friends . And the way you see the world is completely
|
probable that these factors explain why he acted in a way , to quote [ his psychiatrist ], ‘ that was completely incongruous with his usual atti- |
a hearing when she read a news report in Australian Doctor about an unnamed doctor before a tribunal whose transgressions seemed |
external body needs to be funded to investigate doctor-on-doctor assaults .
“ I was lucky at the time that the
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SA : 08 8366 0250 Tasmania : 1300 374 377 Victoria : 1300 330 543 |
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changed . “ That is the part of sexual |
tudes , behaviour and values ’.” Although Professor Kearsley did |
to mirror Professor Kearsley ’ s . “ I found the suppression of |
people who were occupying quite powerful positions within [ the |
WA : 08 9321 3098 |