Numerous charges dropped against plastic surgeon Dr Richard Sackelariou, accused of child sexual assault

A long list of charges against a highly sought-after Sydney plastic surgeon, accused of child sex abuse, have been reduced. Read what happened in court.

Richard Paris Sackelariou locked offices of Double Bay surgery of plastic surgeon Richard Paris Sackelariou Chapel Court 15 Cross St November 7 2022

A majority of charges stacked up against a Sydney plastic surgeon – accused of child sex abuse – have or will be dropped, but still serious charges remain, including one of child prostitution, a court has heard.

Dr Richard Sackelariou, 68, of Vaucluse, a veteran surgeon of 40 years who has practices in Sydney and Melbourne, was facing more than 30 charges which related to alleged incidents where police allege he used Snapchat to groom children before offering them payment to meet up.

Specialist plastic surgeon, Dr Richard Paris Sackelariou, has serious charges remaining of child sex abuse.

The court had heard a bulk of the allegations were from Sydney, while some were from the Hunter region.

Police allege the highly-sight Double Bay surgeon paid multiple underage girls to undertake sexual acts on him and on several occasions travelled to Newcastle to meet up with young girls aged between 13 and 17.

He was arrested at his Vaucluse home on November 4 last year and charged with 17 offences, before being slapped with a further 14 charges in December.

In Newcastle Local Court on Wednesday, the doctor wasn’t required to appear via video link but his Sydney Lawyer Amanda Pappas notified the court that more than 20 charges had been dropped or were set to be withdrawn.

But Dr Sackelariou is still facing serious charges of causing a child older than 14 and younger than 18 to do act of child prostitution, possessing child abuse material, causing a child to make child abuse material and using a carriage service to solicit child abuse material.

Four apprehended violence orders (AVO’s) also remain.

The Sydney surgeon has already made two failed bids for bail citing “serious and life-threatening conditions” that he suffers from, including glaucoma and diverticulitis, and offered up a staggering $700,000 to secure his release, as well as his $1.25 million property as surety.

The Health Care Complaints Commission (HCCC) is also currently assessing an active complaint against the surgeon, which could see the medical registration of the 68-year-old suspended.

One AVO matter was adjourned for two weeks while the remaining charges and AVO’s were adjourned until July.