A court has heard how a disgraced senior oncologist who indecently assaulted a junior female doctor in 2013, also indecently assaulted the daughter of an elderly prostate cancer patient the year before.
John Kearsley, 65, the former head of radiation oncology at St George Hospital and former conjoint professor of medicine at the University of NSW, has pleaded guilty to assault with an act of indecency.
The woman, a 54-year-old Sydney teacher, had been regularly accompanying her father to radiation therapy appointments with Kearsley.
A sentencing hearing in the Sutherland Local Court was told prosecutors and defence lawyers had drawn up an agreed statement of facts.
Doctor gave victim champagne and a breast exam
One of the agreed facts was the former oncologist invited the woman to lunch at his office in December 2012 because he said he wanted to write an article about her father's case for a medical journal.
The woman said when she arrived he offered her sandwiches and a glass of champagne, then took her on a tour of the clinic's new facilities.
The court heard that during the tour Kearsley said: "Your mother died of breast cancer didn't she?"
He then offered to give the woman an impromptu breast examination.
She agreed but police prosecutor Sergeant Tracy Moore told the court he touched her naked breasts inappropriately and squeezed her nipples.
"There was a degree of premeditation and planning," Sergeant Moore said.
"The offender abused a position of trust and authority … the victim was significantly harmed by this event."
The woman sat in the front row of the public gallery with a police officer wiping away tears during today's proceedings.
Defence barrister Gabrielle Bashir SC told the court that at the time of the offence her client was suffering from burnout and an undiagnosed mental illness.
She said Kearsley was "ashamed and distressed" by what he did to the woman.
"There is an acknowledgement that this matter was a breach of trust," Ms Bashir said.
Kearsley had jail time for assault on junior doctor
In August 2016, Kearsley was sentenced in the NSW District Court to a minimum of two years and three months in jail for drugging then indecently assaulting a young female doctor he had been mentoring.
His registration was suspended by the Medical Council of NSW, while the University of NSW withdrew his conjoint professor appointment.
Kearsley had spiked his junior colleague's wine with the sedative benzodiazepine when she came over to his house in Sydney's inner-west for dinner to discuss her career.
She woke later to find him massaging her inappropriately and kissing her left breast.
He pleaded guilty to using an intoxicating substance to commit and indictable offence and assault with an act of indecency.
Jail time slashed
In March 2017, the former oncologist's sentence was slashed by 18 months in the Court of Criminal Appeal, after judges took into account his outstanding medical work before his psychological decline.
He was allowed to leave jail in May.
Today, Ms Bashir told the court Kearsley was assaulted and threatened in prison and had to be moved between eight different correctional facilities.
She said he had done 170 one-hour sessions with a psychiatrist and had expressed remorse for his crimes.
She asked that he be sentenced to mental health treatment instead of a sentence under the law.
Magistrate Michael Connell will hand down his decision next month.
