Centrelink psych sexually assaulted underage clients

Psychologist “manipulated” parents so he could sexually assault vulnerable Melbourne teens applying for disability pay, tribunal finds.

Psychologist Venh Hong Lay was an assessor. Picture: Mark Brake

A Melbourne psychologist abused his Centrelink role and “manipulated” parents so he could sexually assault three vulnerable teenagers – including two underage girls – applying for disability payments.

The now convicted sex offender Venh Hong Lay was supposed to assess whether the woman qualified for welfare but led them to another room – away from their parents – so he could inappropriately touch them under the guise of an exam in 2016 and 2017.

The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal cancelled Mr Lay’s registration late last month, and suspended him from reapplying to be a psychologist – or do any type of unregistered healthcare role – for nine years.

It comes after Mr Lay was convicted of two counts of sexual assault in the County Court, and a further count of sexual assault at Dandenong Court in October 2019.

He was sentenced to a 7-month jail term and two year community corrections order.

The Board of Psychologists slammed his conduct, telling the Tribunal the young women were “acutely vulnerable” and Mr Lay – who had the right to assess whether they should receive welfare payments – held “a particularly powerful position over them”.

“They each had disabilities and/or mental health issues,” they said.

“He used his power to take the clients away from their caregivers and assault them under the guise of conducting an assessment.”

Tribunal members Neill Campbell, John Gleeson and Marian Power agreed and said the girls’ parents had done nothing wrong, and were “manipulated” by Mr Lay “to enable him to access the clients alone”.

Mr Lay’s victims were aged just 16, 17 and 18 when Mr Lay sexually assaulted them, inappropriately touching their chest and, in one case, pulling his victim’s underwear down to touch “her buttocks and inner groin area”.

The board heard that Mr Lay was struggling with his father and father-in-law’s cancer diagnosis and relationship problems at the time of his offending and initially denied his conduct, pleading not guilty to the County Court charges,

But he later changed his plea and the Tribunal found he had shown “some insight or remorse”.

VCAT also questioned the “extraordinary” delay by the Board.

Mr Lay had not been able to work since June 2017 – when he was suspended under the board’s immediate action powers – but the Board did not refer the matter to tribunal “for almost three and a half years after the criminal matters had resolved”.

“The board was unable to explain the very lengthy delay in this matter being referred to the Tribunal,” the tribunal stated.