Doctor cleared of sexually touching patient

A psychiatrist has successfully appealed his conviction for sexually touching a young patient on his therapist’s couch.

Dr Robert Wotton was last year sentenced to a two-year intensive corrections order after he was found guilty of aggravated sexual touching.

The court was told he allegedly rubbed the nipple of a longstanding male patient during a therapy session at his Balmain office in May 2021.

The psychiatrist then allegedly undid his pants and rubbed his groin against the young man while he was lying on the therapist couch.

The patient said he had “never been so scared in his life” as when Dr Wotton then turned his attention to his belt.

The court was told the psychiatrist allegedly had kissed the young man on the forehead only a month before he escalated to sexual touching.

Dr Wotton denied the allegations, claiming his patient had made sexual advances towards him when he suffered a medical episode in his office.

On Friday, Dr Wotton faced the NSW District Court to appeal his conviction on the grounds it was unreasonable and made in error.

Judge Siobhan Herbert agreed the local court magistrate had made errors when sentencing the psychiatrist last year, such as finding that Dr Wotton had embellished his evidence.

“It is clear the local court magistrate did reverse the onus of proof at times,” she said.

The judge noted there was an “extraordinary degree of inconsistency in (the) versions” of events the young man gave to police, the Health Care Complaints Commission, and a friend.

“The complainant has effectively given four versions of the event prior to giving evidence (to the court),” she said.

While Judge Herbert acknowledged the impact of trauma on memory, she said the young man left out some details and included others that he had then denied under oath.

Given the “entirely inconsistent accounts”, she found she could not be satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that Dr Wotton was guilty of sexually touching his patient.

However, the judge also determined there were “significant issues with the credibility” of Dr Wotton.

The court was told he denied hugging the alleged victim in his therapy sessions, but the young man told his partner about the hug therapy three years before the alleged sexual touching.

Judge Herbert also cast doubt on Dr Wotton’s claims that his patient had made sexual advances towards him in May 2021 that he had not mentioned to police or the medical board.

She rejected the psychiatrist’s version of events but ultimately found the Crown had not persuaded her of his guilt.

The judge determined the guilty verdict was unreasonable and upheld Wotton’s appeal.

The 78-year-old smiled at his small group of friends as his conviction was quashed.

He had practised psychiatry for 47 years before he retired after the allegations came to light.