Former Geelong doctor Joseph Chirawu behind bars after losing sexual assault appeal

A Geelong doctor convicted of sexually assaulting a woman twice at a Ryrie St medical clinic has lost an appeal and will finally serve a jail term.

Joseph Chirawu outside the Geelong Court in 2022.

A Geelong doctor convicted of sexually assaulting a woman at a medical clinic has lost an appeal in the County Court of Victoria and will serve time behind bars.

Joseph Chirawu, 68, was found guilty in 2022 of one count of sexual assault and one count of indecent assault for incidents that occurred in August 2012 and May 2021 at the Geelong City Medical Clinic.

He was jailed for four months in the Geelong Magistrates’ Court but appealed the court’s conviction and sentence later that year.

After a four-day appeal hearing in the County Court on Monday, Judge Gregory Lyon said the charges had been proven and again imposed a four-month prison term.

Geelong doctor Joseph Chirawu who worked at the Geelong City Medical Clinic on Ryrie St.

Chirawu was convicted and sentenced to three months imprisonment for one charge of sexual assault and one charge of indecent assault.

Judge Lyon ordered one month of the sentence imposed on the sexual assault be served cumulatively with the indecent assault charge.

Chirawu had worked at the Ryrie St clinic from 2007 until his suspension in 2022.

In July 2022, the Geelong Magistrates Court heard Chirawu assaulted the woman in May 2021 by putting his arms around her from behind and touching her breasts.

Almost 10 years earlier, Chirawu touched the same woman’s breasts and squeezed her nipples during what he said was an examination to determine why she was not falling pregnant.

The victim told the court Chirawu had taken advantage of her when she was vulnerable after she had trouble conceiving and was experiencing a marriage breakdown.

Joseph Chirawu will serve four months in jail.

“How do I even begin to process the impacts on my life when the most trusted professional in my life … was a predator,” the woman said in a victim impact statement.

“Mr Chirawu, as he is no longer a doctor, was fully aware of these facts … he was not a stranger on the street, oblivious to my personal situation.

“He chose to assault me with knowledge of the significant life challenges that I was already facing.”

She said she felt “ashamed and humiliated” for putting her “blind trust” in Chirawu and

recommending him to her friends.

“The guilt and shame, every day, that I subjected my loved ones to this person. I’ve lost faith in my own ability to judge,” she said.

Chirawu was also found not guilty of the assault of a different patient relating to an incident in August 2020.

Originally published as Former Geelong doctor Joseph Chirawu behind bars after losing sexual assault appeal