Sex doctor Conway Lee in strife after propositioning patient on gay dating app Grindr
A men’s sex health doctor who matched a gay patient on dating app Grindr and conducted inappropriate sexualised examinations on him, has been found guilty of professional misconduct.
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A men’s sex health doctor who propositioned a patient on gay dating app Grindr, then made him masturbate during an check-up, has been found guilty of professional misconduct.
Patients of doctor Conway Lee complained of being violated after he conducted inappropriate sexualised examinations in which he stroked and massaged their penises and made one man masturbate in front of him.
Two weeks earlier, in June 2017, that same man had been forced to keep Dr Lee at bay after the pair met accidentally on dating app Grindr.
“A photograph was sent through to me, and I immediately identified this person as Dr Lee,” the man told the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal
“I made it known to Dr Lee straight away that I was his patient … his response indicated that he knew who I was. Dr Lee and I had a bit of a laugh about our interaction on Grindr.
“However Dr Lee then proceeded to make a couple of flirtatious comments.”
The man, who told Dr Lee he was home sick, said the doctor repeatedly offered to visit him at home.
“I dismissed Dr Lee’s suggestions, however felt somewhat uncomfortable knowing that he had access to my medical records, which could advise him where I lived. I got the impression that this offer from Dr Lee was quite flirtatious, and was more than strictly medical,” he said.
“If it were anyone else on this application making suggestions for a house visit, I would without a doubt assume it was a suggestive invitation for something sexual.”
The man said on a subsequent visit to Dr Lee the doctor stroked his penis for five minutes.
Dr Lee, whose practice focuses on men’s sexual health and HIV medicine, denied any wrongdoing.
But VCAT members Jonathan Smithers, Aruna Reddy and Roderick McRae found him guilty of three counts of professional misconduct and one count of unprofessional conduct.
“In our view, it is clear that even after he became aware that he was communicating with (the complainant), Dr Lee continued to conduct the Grindr conversation in a manner which was consistent with a person paving the way for a potential sexual encounter, or at least a social encounter,” they said.
“Viewed as a whole, his communications could fairly be described as ‘dangling the line’, or ‘keeping the door open’ for that.”
“The power imbalance between doctor and patient is relevant here, because where the doctor is engaging in social and sexualised communications with his patient on Grindr, there is clearly the potential for the doctor to exploit his position of professional authority for his own personal gratification.”
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A second complainant testified about feeling “very uneasy and thinking that Dr Lee was possibly getting sexual gratification from what was happening” during an examination.
“The way Dr Lee’s examination occurred … was entirely different to any previous experience I have had in a doctor’s office.”
The Medical Board of Australia’s social media policy warns doctors about their ethical and regulatory responsibilities when they are interacting online.
The matter will return to VCAT to consider any penalties or reprimands to be imposed on Dr Lee.