The President of the Australian Medical Association (NSW) has slammed the decision to slash the sentence of disgraced Sydney oncologist, John Kearsley, who was jailed last year for the sexual assault of a female colleague.
The former director of radiation oncology at St George Hospital was handed the minimum two years and three months behind bars last August, after admitting to drugging and indecently assaulting unnamed registrar at his Glebe home in November 2013.
The 65-year-old will now be released on parole in May, after his sentence was last week reduced to nine months by the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal.
AMA (NSW) President, Professor Brad Frankum, says reducing the sentence sends a poor message about how society views violence against women.
“[Kearnsley] abused his position of seniority, betrayed the trust of a registrar, and proved himself a woefully inadequate teacher," Professor Frankum said.
“Teaching less experienced colleagues is one of the core jobs of being a doctor and his abuse of this role in committing his crime is appalling."
Top Comments
When they weigh up who to lock up in our overcrowded jails, it is obviously deemed that men who harm women and children pose less of a risk to society and therefore, they get lesser sentences, if they even get locked up at all. Let's face it if they locked up every man who abused his wife, there wouldn't be enough prisons.
Men who harm men on the other hand, well, that's a different story! They are deemed the most dangerous. (We still have mostly male judges - obviously).
Many of our archaic male judges still see sex crimes as sex, and therefore are more forgiving of males committing sex crimes. These judges are gradually retiring and thank God for that. Until we clean them out, we will still see backward sentencing and judicial decision-making. Needless to say, we need more female judges to ensure a balanced approach to sentencing, and recognition of the female/child victim experience, is represented.
I think he should have got years longer. drugging someone alone should get them a hefty sentence let alone when your a professional who knows exactly what they are doing.
Doing it to sexually abuse a colleague deserves another hefty sentence.
If this were. Child he would be in for decades. Just because it is an adult doesn't make it any better.