Anthony John Pittorino pleads not guilty to rapes, sexual assaults

An expert in physiotherapy has testified in the trial of a masseuse accused of raping and sexually assaulting a client multiple times.

Anthony John Pittorino, 73, pleaded not guilty to five counts of rape and two counts of sexual assault when he appeared before Hervey Bay District Court on Tuesday.

A specialist physiotherapist has testified that the alleged touching of a woman’s breasts and genitalia by a Fraser Coast masseuse was “neither orthodox or legitimate”.

Anthony John Pittorino, 73, pleaded not guilty to five counts of rape and two counts of sexual assault when he appeared before Hervey Bay District Court on Tuesday, January 31, 2023.

Crown prosecutor Stephanie Gallagher said in her opening statement that the woman was sexually assaulted during a number of appointments she had with Mr Pittorino.

But defence barrister Christopher O’Meara said there had been a consensual sexual relationship between his client and the woman.

Ms Gallagher said the woman had visited Mr Pittorino seven times and had been sexually assaulted on each occasion, with allegations he had touched the woman’s breasts, then in later appointments digitally penetrated her vagina and in the final two appointments, had put his penis inside her vagina.

On Wednesday, Brisbane physiotherapist Kenneth Niere testified that he had specialised in neck and back pain.

He said an assessment would be done on any patient to determine where their pain areas were, looking at their movements and tension in their spinal muscles then formulating a treatment.

Manual therapy and massage would usually be applied to the area where the pain was situated in the back and sometimes the buttocks or legs if necessary.

Efforts would be taken to cover up the patient, with the area being treated to be exposed but the patient to be covered by clothing or a towel, Mr Niere said.

Ms Gallagher asked Mr Niere if he was aware of any rationale for back pain for massage to be applied to the breasts.

“No,” Mr Niere said.

Anthony John Pittorino.

He said the only rationale to massage the breast would be for mastitis as a result of breastfeeding, but even then the alternatives of ultrasound therapy or self-massage would make it rare.

Mr Niere said in the case of massaging a breast in the case of mastitis, there would need to be verbal consent from the patient.

“What about any treatment surrounding the genital areas?” Ms Gallagher asked.

In the case of massage around the genitalia, there would also need to be consent for any procedures and the opportunity for the patient to ask questions or refuse that treatment, Mr Niere responded.

During another appointment, Ms Gallagher said in her opening statement, Mr Pittorino allegedly told the woman he “needed to see where her uterus was laying”, and he allegedly digitally penetrated her.

He then allegedly told her that her uterus was in “the wrong position”.

Ms Gallagher asked Mr Niere if he knew of any therapeutic intervention that involved the position or movement of a uterus.

“No, absolutely none,” he said.

Defence barrister Christopher O’Meara asked Mr Niere if a good assessment of the effectiveness of a massage technique was improvement in the patient’s condition.

“Yes, that’s one outcome measure, absolutely,” he said.

Judge Michael Burnett also had questions for Mr Niere.

He asked if massaging the breasts for a back or spinal problem was “orthodox or legitimate”.

“No, definitely neither orthodox or legitimate,” he said.

Judge Burnett also asked whether inserting something into the vagina to address “the position of the uterus” could be considered orthodox or legitimate.

“Definitely not orthodox and certainly not legitimate,” he said.

The trial continues on Thursday.