Evil dentist who raped a nurse after giving her a massive dose of nitrous oxide while doing a filling four decades ago is jailed for just three and a half years
- Peter James Agnew, 68, raped his dental nurse after cornering her after-hours
- The judge said Agnew knew the woman was alone and returned to rape her
- He had previously used laughing gas in his attempt to sexually assault her
A retired Brisbane dentist who drugged a teenage dental nurse with laughing gas before sexually assaulting her 40 years ago has been jailed for at least three-and-a-half years.
Peter James Agnew, 68, gave the young woman about four times the normal dose of nitrous oxide before unzipping her uniform while supposedly treating a hole in her tooth in 1980.
As the woman, then 19, lay dizzy and disorientated in his dentist chair, she attempted to fight Agnew off but he was too strong, the Brisbane District heard during his trial.
Brisbane dentist Peter James Agnew, 68, has been jailed for at least three-and-a-half years for raping a dental nurse in his practice in 1980
Agnew, then 27, also exposed the woman to pornographic images in the dental surgery’s lunchroom and later raped her, pushing her to the floor after the last patient had left.
‘You would have known she was in the surgery that night, locking up, completing her duties, cleaning the surgery, and you came back to work and raped her,’ Judge Deborah Richards said on Tuesday.
The woman resigned the following day.
Agnew was convicted of indecently assaulting and raping the woman after she confronted him in 2016 to gather evidence for investigating police.
Judge Richards said his actions were contemptuous and despicable.
‘You were in a position of authority over her and she was clearly someone who was in awe of that position of authority, and the position that you held made you confident and brazen,’ she said.
Agnew was sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment and will be eligible for parole after serving half of the term.
Judge Deborah Richards said to was clear that Agnew knew the woman would be alone at his practice and came back to work to rape her