Fake gynecologist and sex offender sent to Australian prison
Jul 6, 2018
A fake gynecologist who never attended medical school but passed himself off as an infertility expert in Australia for a decade has been sentenced to 9 years and 6 months in prison
MELBOURNE, Australia — A fake gynecologist who never attended medical school but passed himself off as an infertility expert in Australia for a decade was sentenced on Friday to 9 ½ years in prison.
Victoria state County Court Judge Bill Stuart described Raffaele Di Paolo, 61, as a remorseless charlatan. Di Paolo must spend 6 ½ years in prison before he is eligible for parole.
Earlier this year, Di Paolo pleaded guilty to or was convicted of 51 offences of procuring sexual penetration by fraud, assault, indecent assault and obtaining and trying to obtain property — medical fees — by deception.
The Australian-Italian dual citizen obtained forged qualifications as a medical practitioner, obstetrician and gynecologist in Italy in the 1990s.
He was convicted and fined in Italy for falsely passing himself off as a doctor, but managed to convince two Roman courts that he was qualified to practice medicine in Australia.
He returned to Melbourne, Australia's second largest city, and treated 30 women and their partners between 2005 and 2015, while fooling qualified medical professionals into believing he was legitimate with his fake Italian credentials.
Di Paolo's purported in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments included injecting homeopathic substances, taking blood samples which were never labelled and conducting abdominal tests and ultrasounds.
He told several women they were pregnant when they weren't. A pregnant woman miscarried after Di Paolo injected her with an unknown substance.
In one case, he conducted a breast examination without wearing gloves. In another, he removed semen from a partner's testicles with a needle but without anesthetic, causing pain and bruising.
"You are a base charlatan who has no insight and no remorse but perhaps much self-pity," Judge Stuart told Di Paolo.
"You deliberately deceived your victims, you breached the trust that they had in you. You encouraged false hope, you wrongfully touched them and penetrated their bodies and you took large sums of money," Stuart added.
The judge rejected defense lawyers' argument that Di Paolo's diagnoses of a narcissistic personality disorder and adjustment disorder should shorten his prison term.
Di Paolo will remain on a state sex offender registry for life.
More News
The real pain from rising interest rates is yet to come
The number of borrowers who are behind on their mortgage payments is rising, and it’s likely to climb further as rate hikes bite.
Coalition threat to sink gas reform triggers rare industry backlash
A broad alliance of business chiefs and unions has mounted a last-minute push for the Coalition to pass Labor’s domestic gas-reservation laws.
A new fast-food giant is coming to Australia. Its unusual ingredients aren’t the only talking point
A new chain will enter Australia’s crowded fast-food chicken market after wowing Anthony Albanese at one of its Manila stores. We put some of its dishes to the test.
Wall Street’s wild Nvidia ride delivers big paydays and even bigger bruises
Investors are doubling down on speculative wagers that have delivered both spectacular gains and crushing losses this year.
Inside Boeing’s mission to rebuild trust in the 737 after years of turbulence
In the airline industry, attention to detail is everything. Boeing’s recovery is tied to reforms on its manufacturing floor in Washington.
Commercial childcare is hitting a brick wall. Who will pick up the pieces?
Australia’s largest childcare provider has signalled its intent to surrender to a lowball private equity bid as other for-profit providers collapse in record numbers.
‘I don’t care’: Inside Jensen Huang’s last hours as Nvidia CEO
At the end, Jensen Huang looked broken and shattered, his legendary energy depleted.
I worked part-time at David Jones. I know exactly why the business failed
Lift operators, bra fitters and lying sales assistants – I mourn you all.
How Elon Musk drove the Cybertruck and Tesla’s ambitions off a cliff
Elon Musk’s passion project crashed and burned. Its demise carries a lot of weight,
M.J. Bale axed its retail boss while she was on maternity leave. Now she’s fighting back
The Australian menswear retailer made its high-flying retail boss redundant days before her scheduled return from parental leave.
‘Either brave or mad’: A bastion of fine dining gets a sorely needed facelift
Rob and Tammy Charter had other ideas about how they wanted to spend post-work life. Like buying a heritage pub.
This Qantas jet was hit by lightning. It’s still grounded two weeks later
Pictures show the damage left by a lightning bolt, with charred areas of the skin and mesh exposed, on a plane that arrived in Melbourne from Los Angeles last month.