Arabic version: طبيب عام متقاعد من تسمانيا ينفي تهم الاعتداء غير المحتشم

According to ABC News, retired Tasmanian GP Michael Anthony Welch has pleaded not guilty to three indecent assault charges, with a hearing concluding in the Hobart Magistrates Court. Welch, 65, practised as a GP in Tasmania from 1984 until retiring in 2019 and was extradited from New South Wales last year to face the charges.

Prosecutor Adam Godleman said two charges concerned allegations by a complainant who was 18 or 19 when he attended a consultation in late 2004 or early 2005. The complainant told the court he sought a sexual health check-up from Welch, who he said was known in the LGBTQI+ community as a friendly doctor. He alleged Welch touched his genitals during examinations and made an inappropriate comment. The complainant said he was shocked and frightened, and later explained that he had waited until 2023 to report the allegation to the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency because he did not think he would be believed.

Welch denied the allegations and denied making inappropriate comments. He told the court the examination was conducted professionally and within the constraints of a normal examination. He said he had no sexual interest in the complainant and was watching for signs of pain or discomfort during the examination.

The third charge relates to an allegation that Welch groped another man’s penis and testicles while piercing his ear, after part of the piercing fell into the man’s lap. Welch said he began providing professional piercing services in the early 2000s and denied the allegation. Defence lawyer David Edwardson KC said the complainant’s evidence contained reasonable doubt and pointed to differences between accounts given by the complainant and his cousin. Magistrate Jackie Hartnett is expected to hand down findings in December.