Former doctor jailed over child abuse material loses fight to practice in Tasmania again

A former Hobart doctor who was jailed after he was busted with 63,000 child exploitation images has been fighting to work again in medicine. Read the outcome of his bid.

A HOBART doctor who was jailed after downloading 63,000 child exploitation images has repeatedly tried to renew his medical registration in Tasmania.

While he applied for a restricted registration to only work with elderly patients, the Tasmanian Civil and Administrative Appeal Tribunal has now upheld the Medical Board of Australia’s decision to reject his application.

Jeremy Philip Buddle has admitted that until recently, while he no longer accessed child abuse material, he continued masturbating to legal images of pubescent boys – including those he collected from social media, and YouTube or Instagram links to teenage performing artists.

The 52-year-old – who seemingly remains a virgin with an “aversion” to physical intimacy – also apparently told one psychologist he liked looking at websites with boys in swimsuits and was attracted to a “good quality face”.

But Buddle says he’s now sought psychological help and in 2019 “smashed” his hard drive, no longer obsessively collecting pictures of young boys.

The GP, who has been diagnosed with Autistic Spectrum Disorder and paedophilic disorder, worked in Tasmania from 1994 to 2009, at the Royal Hobart Hospital and in general practice at Rokeby, Smithton, Clarence and Sandy Bay.

In 2011 he was jailed for one year, with a non-parole period of six months after pleading guilty to amassing thousands of sexual pictures of young boys.

Buddle hasn’t worked as a doctor since he was raided by Australian Federal Police in 2009, when he resigned from the Long Beach Medical Centre and voluntarily stood down as a registered GP.

In its newly-published decision, the tribunal said Buddle applied to the Medical Board of Australia for re-registration in both 2012 and 2018.

But the tribunal panel, headed by deputy president Alison Clues, both attempts had been refused – despite receiving “glowing references” from psychologists.

Buddle, who gained his Bachelor of Dementia Care in 2017 after he was released from jail, recently sought to have the second rejection overturned by the tribunal, arguing he was in fact a “fit and proper person” who could be readmitted to work with geriatric patients.

Former GP Jeremy Buddle, who served six months in prison after downloading 61,000 child exploitation images, has failed in his bid to become a re-registered doctor in Tasmania.

A number of Hobart psychologists and psychiatrists who treated or assessed Buddle – who last year had a brain tumour removed – supported his case, arguing he didn’t pose a risk to the community.

His application was also supported by Hobart specialist geriatrician Frank Nicklason, who noted Tasmania had an ageing population and a “real need” for geriatricians.

Dr Nicklason proposed Buddle could work at the Glenorchy Health Centre, which does not have children as patients, under supervision for the first six months.

But the tribunal said there were no “appropriate, workable conditions” that would overcome the problems associated with Buddle becoming a registered doctor again.

“Much of the psychological and psychiatric opinion is based on Dr Buddle’s risk of returning to accessing child pornography and contact offending. In the tribunal’s view, this is to miss the point in this case,” the tribunal said.

It said older patients were also at risk, as they suffer further emotional harm in being treated by Buddle if they themselves had been victims of child sexual abuse.

The tribunal said Buddle’s sexual interest in peri-pubescent boys was permanent and that his ongoing sexualisation of children was evidence of his lack of empathy and respect for the inherent dignity of others.

It found it was not in the public interest for Buddle to practice in medicine, and that he was not a fit and proper person for registration as a doctor.

Noting his “intelligence and medical experience”, the tribunal suggested he could still make a positive contribution to society, such as in medical research.

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