A jury in a Perth court has been unable to reach verdicts in the case of a naturopath accused of sexually assaulting seven women after giving them bogus diagnoses.
Rodrigo Andres Bascunan Cabrera, 43, had been on trial in the District Court for the past eight days on nine charges of abusing the women — who ranged in age from 19 to 33 — during consultations at his northern suburbs natural therapies clinic.
The court heard the women had gone to the clinic for ailments including a sore shoulder, lupus and celiac disease, but after looking into the iris of their eyes Mr Bascunan Cabrera told them they had a yeast infection called candida or thrush.
Prosecutor Sean Dworcan said Mr Bascunan Cabrera then told the women that in order to confirm the diagnosis, he needed to do an internal examination of them.
While the women allowed it, Mr Dworcan claimed their consent was obtained by fraud.
The offences were alleged to have taken place between 2012 and 2017, but the women did not complain to police until 2018 after there was publicity about an investigation into Mr Bascunan Cabrera's brother.
Mr Bascunan Cabrera denied the allegations, maintaining what was alleged against him did not happen.
His lawyer, Seamus Rafferty, highlighted issues about the credibility, accuracy and reliability of the women's evidence, and noted that none of them immediately went to the police.
After deliberating for about seven hours, the jury was discharged after informing Judge John Staude it was unable to agree on verdicts for any of the charges.
Mr Bascunan Cabrera now faces the prospect of a retrial.
He was released on bail until he appears in court again next month, when a new trial date may be set.
