NSW Ambulance paramedic sexually touched teenager in the back of ambulance, stole drugs
A former high-ranking Sydney paramedic has been banned from the healthcare sector after he sexually touched a teenage girl, who had called him in a state of distress, in the back of an ambulance.
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A high-ranking NSW paramedic sexually touched a teenage girl in the back of an ambulance, abusing the trust she placed in him when she called in a state of distress.
A NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal decision states the man, who is in his 50s and cannot be identified due to a non-publication order, then stole high-value drugs from his workplace after being made aware the girl had reported him to police.
The decision states the now former paramedic was working as an acting inspector at a Sydney ambulance station at the time and knew the victim’s family.
In May 2022, the teenager called him from a party while he was on shift at a hospital with a trainee paramedic.
He missed the initial call, but she was crying and distressed when they eventually spoke.
The girl’s friend told him over the phone she was “just really drunk”, and he offered to pick her up and take her home in an ambulance.
He then drove the ambulance to the party, leaving the trainee at the hospital.
The decision states the girl fell to the ground twice while leaving the party, including when trying to open the ambulance door.
The man then drove the girl, who was crying and hyperventilating, to an industrial area and pulled over before getting into the back seat with her.
The decision states he touched her chest while wiping glitter from her outfit and kissed her on the lips.
He ultimately took the girl home, carried her into the house and put her on her bed.
The girl went to police the next day.
The man found this out a short time afterwards and, while off-duty, went to his station and stole morphine, fentanyl, two green whistles, midazolam and ketamine from the drug safe.
While he later notified the Australian Health Practitioners Regulation Agency of this, he did not mention what happened with the teenage girl.
He was arrested at a police station a few weeks later and was charged with two counts of sexually touching a person without consent, two counts of common assault, one count of larceny and five counts of attempting to possess restricted substances.
His employment was also suspended.
The decision states he first indicated he would plead not guilty, but he later changed his plea after one of the sexual touching charges and both assault counts were dropped.
An apprehended violence order was taken out to stop the man from contacting the teenage girl, but he called her and apologised for what he did after just 17 days.
This prompted the girl to ring police in a “frantic state”, saying she feared for her safety.
The man was revoked over the breach and he was remanded in custody.
He was sentenced three months later to a 12-month intensive correction order, taking into account the time he had spent behind bars.
The Health Care Complaints Commission subsequently made a complaint and applied to the tribunal for disciplinary action against the man.
The teenager told the tribunal in her evidence she “felt she could trust the (man)” after he befriended her family.
Earlier this month, the tribunal decided to disqualify the man, who is no longer a registered paramedic, from working in the healthcare sector for four years.
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