A gynecologist was sentenced Thursday, February 25 by the Brussels Criminal Court to four years in prison for a rape committed at the end of 2016 on one of his patients in his medical office.
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The court castigated “
very serious
”
facts
amounting to a conviction for “
the strongest
” of the charges, according to a copy of the judgment.
The doctor, whose identity was not disclosed, was also prosecuted for indecent assault.
He denied the facts and his defense had asked for his release during the trial held at the end of January, while the prosecution called for four years in prison.
On November 7, 2016, during a consultation prior to an intervention for the removal of an ovarian cyst, the then thirty-year-old victim had first undergone a classic examination performed with a glove.
But the gynecologist then removed his glove and proceeded to a second vaginal examination with bare hands.
He also stroked and then licked his patient's breast, according to the prosecution.
In shock, the young woman did not immediately file a complaint.
She returned to the office a week later, accompanied by relatives, for explanations and the gynecologist had apologized on several occasions, the Belga agency reported.
In its judgment, the court accuses the defendant of having played a double game, by first offering an apology (recorded on a soundtrack), then by trying to discredit the victim during the investigation and during the trial. .
"
He never ceased, throughout the procedure, to wrongly accuse her of all ills (drug addiction, obsession with his physical appearance, etc.)
", with the aim of "
denying him definitively this quality of victim
”, is emphasized in the judgment.
In addition, during the trial he "
did not show any sincere empathy towards the civil party and did not really question himself
", he added.
Contacted by AFP, Me Marc Uyttendaele, the victim's lawyer, spoke of a “
clearly very severe
”
sentence
, partly explained by this “
unworthy
”
behavior
of the gynecologist in the face of his accuser.
The gynecologist had been practicing for over thirty years.
The judgment specifies that his criminal conviction will be communicated to the section of the Order of Physicians competent for Brussels.