Radik Masagutov, Russian Psychiatrist Incarcerated for Raping 16-Year-Old Patient

May 23, 2019

In Bashkortostan, the court sentenced 54-year-old psychotherapist from Ufa Radik Masagutov to nine years in a strict-regime colony with deprivation of the right to practice for five years for raping a 16-year-old patient, REN TV reports. The defendant intends to appeal the verdict in the Supreme Court of the Republic, Komsomolskaya Pravda reports.

According to investigators, in November 2016, the mother of the victim asked Masagutov to help her daughter, who wanted to commit suicide under the influence of a death group. Three days later, a psychotherapist raped a girl. She told about the incident only to a friend and went to the next session with the victim. The girl secretly photographed the harassment of her friend and later showed a photo of her friend's mother. She applied to the police.

According to the press service of the ICR regional administration, the court found the psychotherapist guilty under articles 131 and 132 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - rape and sexual assault committed against a minor. Masagutov said that his patient was suffering from a mental disorder and made up everything, but the examination proved his guilt.

Note from Psychcrime: Though identified in this news item as a psychotherapist, biographical data on the web identifies Masagutov as a psychiatrist who received his medical degree from Bashkir State Medical Institute in 1988; subsequently studied at Chelyabinsk Medical Academy, where he obtained a Doctorate of Philosophy in Psychiatry in 1998; and a Doctorate of Science in Psychiatry from the Serbsky Institute for Social and Forensic Psychiatry in 2003.

His employment history states that he worked in the following capacities: 

• Consultant-psychiatrist at the Teenage Health Rehabilitation Center, 1994—1996
• Assistant professor Bashkir State Medical University, Psychiatry Department, 1996—2000
• Associate professor, Bashkir State Medical University, Psychiatry Department, 2000—2005 
• Head, Bashkir State Child Psychiatric Service, Ufa, since 2002
• Professor, Bashkir State Medical University, Psychiatry Department, since 2005

Lastly, his research work at Bashkir University shows a prevailing interest in adolescent behavior (particularly with regard to smoking and substance use), with published studies on topics including "Hookah Use among Russian adolescents," "No-Smoking Policy in Russia: Awareness and Perceptions Among Bashkortostan Adolescents," "Electronic Cigarette Use Among Adolescents in the Russian Federation,"Spirituality and substance use in a sample of Russian adolescents," and "Social Self-control, Sensation Seeking and Substance Use in Samples of US and Russian Adolescents."

Source: "Ufa psychotherapist convicted of 16-year-old patient rape," Crime Russia, May 22, 2019, URL: https://en.crimerussia.com/gromkie-dela/ufa-psychotherapist-convicted-of-16-year-old-patient-rape-/; "Radik Masagutov's research while affiliated with Bashkir State Medical University and other places," ResearchGate, URL: https://www.researchgate.net/scientific-contributions/27862039_Radik_Masagutov, and and Prabook (World Biographic Encyclopedia) entry on Radik Midhatovich Masagutov: educator, psychiatrist, URL: https://prabook.com/web/radik_midhatovich.masagutov/455424.