Purchase of child abuse material lands GP in court

A highly regarded country GP who worked in Wonthaggi, Sale and Hamilton hid a dark side that included an addiction to child abuse material and spanking women in underwear.

A GP with deviant sexual interests in spanking women in underwear and child abuse material has been jailed for his sickening offending.

A GP who worked across regional Victoria and New Guinea has been unmasked as a deviate who was “addicted” to child abuse material and enjoyed spanking women in the underwear.

Wonthaggi GP Dr Richard Whitehouse fronted the County Court on Friday having earlier pleaded guilty to one charge of using a carriage to transmit child abuse material and another of possessing child abuse material where he was jailed for 16 months, but will only have to serve three months behind bars.

Dr Whitehouse worked as a GP in Sale, New Guinea, Hamilton and northwest Western Australia before returning to Wonthaggi where he practised from 1994 until his arrest in February this year.

Wonthaggi GP Dr Richard Whitehouse used a coin-based cryptocurrency account to purchase hundreds of child abuse material.

The court heard that in August 2021, Dr Whitehouse purchased two child abuse media packs for about $200 that contained 446 child abuse images and videos. The images depicted children aged 14 and 15 showing their genitalia and being subjected to vile sexual abuse.

The child abuse videos depicted children between three and 15 years of age engaging in penetrative sexual acts with close-ups of children’s genitalia.

Dr Whitehouse told police investigators he was addicted to child abuse material and

that while he had developed a sexual interest in young, pubescent and adolescent females, this was not his sexual preference and was secondary to the GP’s other deviant sexual interests in spanking a women in their underwear.

Judge Anne Hassan said the AFP received communication from the Australian Centre for Counter Child Exploitation (ACCE) IN March 2022 in relation to a user who had purchased child abuse material online using a coin-based cryptocurrency account. Records relating to the account were provided to the ACCE which identified Dr Whitehouse as the account’s registered owner.

A laptop that contained further child abuse material was seized when a warrant was executed at his home in February 2023.

Popular GP Dr Richard Whitehouse bought more than 400 child abuse images and videos.

Dr Whitehouse was assessed by clinical and forensic psychologist Dr Angela Sorotos and consultant forensic clinical psychologist Dr Michael Davis.

Dr Sorotos said Dr Whitehouse met the criteria for compulsive sexual behaviour disorder and long standing interest in spanking as a sexual fantasy.

DR Whitehouse said he knew his behaviour was wrong but that he didn’t intend to hurt anyone and in his mind, he only looked at pictures and videos that were already there.

Dr Davis said Dr Whitehouse’s offending raised the possibility of further diagnosis of pedophilic disorder.

“It is a sad fact that sentencing courts dealing with these kind of material often deal with cases involving child abuse material of the most repellent nature, the depravity of which almost beggars belief,” Judge Hassan said.

She said Dr Whitehouse took several steps with the explicit objective of obtaining child abuse material for which he was prepared to pay “a not insignificant” amount of money.

The judge said character references pointed to Dr Whitehouse being a diligent and dedicated GP who worked long hours in a small community and his involvement with sporting clubs.

“Your conduct is calculated and exhibited some sophistication in that you created a coin-based cryptocurrency and purchased bitcoin, clearly with the objective of avoiding detection,’’ Judge Hassan said.

“You may not have fully understood that your conduct was fuelling the market in the exploitation of vulnerable children but you well understood from the outset that your conduct was wrong.”

Judge Hassan sentenced Dr Whitehouse to a total of 16 months’ imprisonment but ordered that he be released on a two-year good behaviour bond after serving three months.