Doctor convicted of raping patients during colonoscopies

Trigger warning: This article contains mentions of rape and sexual assault.

A German court on Friday, Jan. 31,  handed a doctor a six-and-a-half-year jail term for raping female patients while carrying out colonoscopies.

The man, identified as Wolfgang H., was convicted of 17 counts of rape and sexual assault whilst exploiting a privileged relationship, the Munich court said in a statement.

Prosecutors had asked for a sentence of eight years.

The doctor was found to have inserted his finger into the vaginas of the women during colonoscopies repeatedly between 2017 and 2021, punishable as rape under German law, according to the court. 

He was cleared of two further counts of rape.

The Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper reported that the women were anaesthetised when their bowels were being examined in the Munich practice, and medical assistants witnessed what had happened. 

The 52-year-old had denied the accusations against him, and plans to appeal the conviction, the newspaper said, citing his defense lawyer. 

Four female colleagues who saw what happened at the practice raised the alarm some time after the offences.

The court determined their testimony was consistent and detailed, and the fact they had reported the crimes long after the events could be plausibly explained by fears of reprisals at work. 

The court did not ban Wolfgang H. from continuing to practise as a doctor, saying there was no evidence of him committing further crimes once he had been reported. (AFP)