Sydney Psychiatrist Robert Wotton Sentenced for Sexual Abuse of Patient

October 16, 2023

A Sydney psychiatrist grinned after learning he would not go to prison for sexually abusing a man on his therapist’s couch, even after accusing his victim of being “financially motivated” by going to police.

Dr. Robert Wotton was sentenced on Friday at Parramatta Local Court for one count of aggravated sexual touching.

Wotton had sexually touched the man who was lying on his analyst’s couch in his Balmain office in May 2021.

The touching ended when Wotton tried to remove his patient’s belt. A month earlier, the court heard, Wotton had kissed the same man on the forehead.

Magistrate Susan McIntyre denounced Wotton’s crime against a person who had gone to a psychiatrist for help over a long period of time.

“[The touching] was an extreme betrayal of trust which will continue to have a long-lasting and probably permanent impact,” the magistrate said.

“He has shown not one iota of remorse … the most concerning aspect of this is he claims the victim manipulated the court system.”

- Police prosecutor Nick Nicholas

Wotton had been found guilty in August after a lengthy hearing in which he refused to accept the version of events put forward by the man.

Instead, Wotton had accused his victim of lying for money, and accused the victim of making sexual advances towards him.

“It’s all about him, the effects on him, not about what happened to the victim,” police prosecutor Sergeant Nick Nicholas told the court.

Nicholas said Wotton’s accusations were an attempt to “turn the tables” on his victim that could have seen the victim investigated by police.

“He has shown not one iota of remorse and, not only that, the most concerning aspect of this is he claims the victim manipulated the court system,” Nicholas said.

“The man who manipulated this system was [Wotton], not the complainant.”

Wotton’s legal team agreed he had shown no remorse, a necessary concession given Wotton had refused to admit guilt at all.

The doctor looked frail in court, flanked by supporters and shaking as he put on a hearing aid during the sentence.

Wotton is 78 and suffering from inoperable cancer, the court heard. He resigned after the young man went to police.

Prosecutors said his age and health should be of little concern because the offence was recent, while the doctor was in his late 70s.

His legal team said he was no risk of reoffending, had no access to patients and was in failing health.

The magistrate agreed and handed Wotton a two-year intensive corrections order, a type of custodial sentence that allows offenders to do their time while being supervised in the community.

Once the magistrate left the court Wotton beamed a smile to his supporters. He will be able to return to his home in Bowral.

The young man he abused had faced Wotton in court, and wanted to read a victim impact statement but, instead, the court accepted a written version.

Outside the young man hugged his own small band of supporters.

Wotton remained inside the court with his friends, trying to avoid the news cameras before giving up.

Source: Perry Duffin, “Sydney doctor spared prison for ‘extreme betrayal’,” Sydney Morning Herald, Oct.  16, 2023.