Sunshine Coast doctor faces allegations of raping three women

Disturbing details of the alleged rapes committed by a Sunshine Coast doctor against his wife and two women he met on a Christian dating site have been revealed.

A Sunshine Coast doctor charged with multiple rapes of three women, including two he met on a Christian dating site, has been refused bail.

The doctor is alleged to have raped his wife multiple times a week, sometimes in front of their children, Supreme Court Justice Soraya Ryan said.

Justice Ryan said the doctor, in his early 40s, met two other women he is alleged to have raped on a dating site, Christian Connect, in 2021.

One of the women, who told the doctor she wanted to remain a virgin until she was married, was repeatedly raped over three months last year, it is alleged.

Justice Ryan said after phoning the woman about 40 times, asking why she was not taking his calls, the woman met him for breakfast the next day, after which he allegedly raped her for the first time.

The other woman whom the doctor met through the Christian dating site also told him she was a virgin and did not wish to have sexual intercourse, the judge said.

The doctor allegedly raped the woman in March, last year.

At one stage he told her he would teach her about sexual intercourse because he was a medical doctor, Justice Ryan said.

The father-of-two who came to Australia from overseas, is alleged to have committed 14 offences against his wife between 2017 and 2021, during their marriage.

They include eight counts of rape, three counts of choking, two counts of assault causing bodily harm and one count of torture.

Justice Ryan said it was alleged the doctor considered he was entitled to have sex with his wife, who would sometimes bleed afterwards, because they were married.

The now estranged wife claimed he would consume alcohol or take pharmaceutical drugs before raping her, and sometimes he would tear her clothing if she resisted.

Counsel for the doctor, Robert Glenday, conceded that it was a strong prosecution case, but suggested strict conditions could be imposed if the doctor was granted bail.

He said the doctor was a man of good character, with no criminal convictions, whose licence to practise as a medical practitioner had been suspended.

Mr Glenday said the wife had waited a year before making a complaint, but Justice Ryan said she had explained that it was because of her shame.

The wife allegedly recorded an episode of her husband’s violence on her mobile phone.

Counsel for the Crown opposed bail, saying the doctor had repeatedly raped his wife when she had expressly said “no” and “stop” and had continued despite her being in pain.

The judge was told that the doctor told his wife he would kill her if she made a complaint about him to police that caused him to lose his medical licence.

Justice Ryan said there was an unacceptable risk that the doctor would endanger the safety and welfare of women in general, not just the complainants, if granted bail.

She said there was also the risk that the doctor, “a person of means”, who would face a lengthy prison sentence if convicted, would fail to appear in court if bailed.

The doctor, who was refused bail, has been in custody for 31 days, since appearing in court in March, initially charged with five counts of rape involving one of the women he met on the dating site.