Psychiatrist successfully appeals conviction for 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.