Tuesday - August 11, 2009

Down Under Ex Post Facto?

A TASMANIAN psychologist has been found guilty of professional misconduct for having sex with his own wife.

Michael John Marriott, 58, of Burnie, has appealed against the decision by the Psychologists Registration Board of Tasmania to ban him from practising for six months.

Justice Alan Blow heard in the Supreme Court in Hobart that Mr Marriott married a former patient in 2001, but the pair separated in 2004 and went through what Mr Marriott called a bitter property settlement.

In June 2007 Mr Marriott’s wife, Christine Raeburn, made a complaint against him, which resulted in the professional misconduct finding.

The profession’s code of conduct states no psychologist may engage in a sexual relationship with a former client within two years of their professional relationship ending.

The court heard Ms Raeburn became a client of Mr Marriott’s in 1997.

She had been in a car accident and was making an insurance claim for post traumatic stress disorder.

Mr Marriott’s lawyer, Bill Ayliffe, said there was a hug that turned into a passionate kiss at the end of their last appointment in June 1999.

They formed a relationship and married in March 2001.

The psychologists board’s disciplinary committee held a hearing into Ms Raeburn’s complaint in April last year and Mr Marriott pleaded guilty to professional misconduct.

Mr Ayliffe said his client could not deny he had breached the code because he clearly had sex with his wife within the two-year period.

But Mr Ayliffe said the board should have withdrawn or amended the charges against Mr Marriott once it had realised the code was only devised in 2003 and did not exist at the relevant time.

He said the board should have considered the nature of the couple’s relationship, including whether it involved mutual love and benefit.

The board’s lawyer, Bruce McTaggart, said the professional misconduct finding was based on common law, not the code of conduct.

Justice Blow reserved his decision.

How’s that for an Open Thread starter? The shrink gets suspended for 6 months because he married his patient 23 months after she stopped visiting him for treatment. And the “code” wasn’t written down until 2 years AFTER they were married. But hey, such misconduct goes against common law. Really? The kind that isn’t written down, and is just assumed? I’d like to see that section that gives the 2 year rule. And it was his own wife. It’s not like he fed her roofies and attacked her in his office. Or coerced her in any way, or even came up with some twisted “treatment” that included her having sex with him. He married her. Shouldn’t that make just a bit of difference?

Posted by Drew458     on 08/11/2009 at 09:05 PM   
Filed Under: • Miscellaneous •  
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