Former Tasmanian doctor Michael Anthony Welch charged with sexually abusing teen patients
A former Tasmanian doctor has appeared in court on child sexual abuse charges, with his lawyer revealing he is “desperate” to return home before trial.
A former Tasmanian doctor who was extradited to Tasmania from New South Wales appeared in Hobart’s Supreme Court on Monday, with his lawyer telling the court his client had expressed a wish to return home before his trial.
Michael Anthony Welch, 64, has been charged with three counts of rape, alleged to have been committed against an 18-year-old complainant in 1993.
The defendant is also facing three counts of indecent assault, alleged to have occurred in 2004 and 2005 against a person aged 15 years old.
The abuse is alleged to have occurred when Mr Welch was a registered medical general practitioner in Tasmania.
The charges followed an extensive investigation by the Tasmania Police taskforce Artemis, a specialist police team investigating child abuse allegations from the Commission of Inquiry.
Tasmania Police said it strongly encouraged anyone with information about any form of sexual abuse, regardless of the passage of time, to come forward and report it.
In court on Tuesday, defence counsel for Mr Welch said that, through “quite some communication between myself and the DPP”, he understood that there was a review of files taking place.
However, counsel stated Mr Welch was “desperate” to return home.
“He’s desperate for the matter to be clarified,” defence counsel stated.
Crown prosecutor Heather Denton indicated that she would not oppose Mr Welch’s request to return home ahead of the trial.
“Well, I’m happy to give the party’s liberty to apply earlier,” Associate Justice Daly said.
“But, you will still need to put in an application for that to occur.”
Associate Justice Daly adjourned the matter until March 17.
More Coverage
Originally published as Former Tasmanian doctor Michael Anthony Welch charged with sexually abusing teen patients
