Bendigo Doctor Obiyo Nwigwe should be jailed for longer, prosecutors tell court of appeal

A disgraced former doctor from Bendigo and Ballarat could end up serving longer behind bars for sexually abusing a young girl.

A pedophile Bendigo doctor’s six-and-a-half year jail sentence was too soft and he should be locked up for years longer, prosecutors have argued.

Obiyo Nwigwe, 45, was last year handed the jail term, with a four year and three month non-parole period, after admitting to repeatedly having sex with a teenage girl who he became infatuated with.

Nwigwe, the son of a Nigerian prince, was working as an emergency department doctor at Bendigo Hospital, also sent naked pictures of himself to the girl, and told her “if you were above 18 and I was single, then that would be perfect”.

He committed his sickening crimes while his wife was away in England finishing her medical studies and while he was looking after their children in Bendigo.

In the Court of Appeal on Tuesday, prosecutors argued Nwigwe’s crimes deserved a harsher jail sentence.

Crown Prosecutor Chris Boyce, QC, said the “breach of trust” Nwigwe’s committed against his victim and her family was “just so bad” that his jail sentence was “truly outside the range” of appropriate penalties.

Obiyo Chigozie Nwigwe leaves court before he was remanded in custody last year.

The Bendigo Law Courts at Pall Mall. Picture: Zizi Averill

Nwigwe, who watched the hearing by video from Hopkins Correctional Centre in Ararat, ingratiated himself with his victim’s family in the months before his offending.

Mr Boyce said the victim’s parents later find out Nwigwe had been sexually abusing their daughter and “blackmailed” her into not telling anyone what he had done by telling her he would kill himself if she did so.

Barrister Colin Mandy SC, for Nwigwe, said his client’s jail sentence fill “within the range available” and was not “plainly unjust”.

He said his Nwigwe faced the prospect of “waking up every morning for the next thousand days … with the thought of his family waking up on the other side of the world”.

Mr Mandy said Nwigwe had not seen his children’s faces since being jailed, because prison authorities banned child sex offenders from making video calls to kids.

He said the sentencing judge took into account that his career as a doctor was ruined.

Nwigwe’s permanent residency has been cancelled, meaning he will likely serve his full six-and-a-half year jail sentence before being released.

The Court of Appeal will hand down its decision at a later date.