A psychiatrist sexually assaulted three vulnerable patients over more than a decade, plying his victims with addictive drugs and abusing them – all while charging them for each session.
Julian Kent has been barred for practising for life after pleading guilty to professional misconduct after women gave graphic evidence of his sexual liaisons at his consulting rooms in Glenelg, west of Adelaide, according to The Advertiser.
The South Australia Health Practitioners Tribunal barred Kent after hearing about the abuse, which happened to two women at his consulting rooms while a third victim was abused at her home, at his home, in his car and in public places.
Julian Kent has been barred for practising for life after pleading guilty to professional misconduct
The women were charged for the sessions with Kent in which they were abused. They are now negotiating out-of-court settlements with Kent, and it is understood they will receive several hundred thousand dollars.
Kent has avoided criminal prosecution despite an investigation by the Criminal Investigation Branch.
In a victim impact statement, one of the women who was abused revealed the sickening impact of Kent’s actions.
‘I gave myself up to a doctor’s care hoping that he would do his very best for me. And in my desperate hour of need, he promised to do that. Little did I know that I was a sitting duck,’ she said.
‘Over the 10 years he ploughed me with addictive drugs, told me that we had a special relationship, told me that no hospital in Adelaide wanted to treat me, leaving me totally at his mercy and helplessly co-dependent, phoning him constantly asking what I could and couldn’t do.
In a victim impact statement, one of the women who was abused revealed the sickening impact of Kent’s actions (stock image)
‘His relentless sexual abuse of me over 10 years means that any possibility of recovery is incredibly remote.’
A friend of one of the women who was abused said Kent’s ‘predatory behaviour had taken a terrific toll on her mental health’.
‘No amount of money would have made this all right,’ she said.