Brunssum physician gets 1.5 years in prison for raping patient

The court in Maastricht has sentenced a 54-year-old general practitioner from Brunssum to 18 months in prison, six months of which are conditional, for rape and multiple assaults on a patient.

According to the court, the man abused his position as a GP and thus also damaged the profession. The Public Prosecution Service (OM) had demanded one year in prison, but the court found the demand too lenient. The doctor’s lawyer spoke of a witch hunt and asked for an acquittal in the trial two weeks ago.

The court considered the rape and sexual assaults prove, partly due to statements from witnesses. It was the third time Sebastiaan van P. appeared in court on suspicion of sexually abusing patients. Last year, the court sentenced him to three years in prison and a five-year professional ban for raping three women in 2016, 2017, and 2019. He appealed. The appeal will be tried next Friday by the court in Den Bosch. Van P. denies all allegations.

In another case, he was acquitted of raping a patient due to procedural errors by the judiciary. However, three years ago, the Central Disciplinary Board suspended the doctor for this case for one year, half of which was conditional.

This third trial concerned the sexual abuse and rape of a fifth patient, who last year reported that the doctor abused her from 2015 to 2020. According to the court, he conducted an internal examination of the woman without any necessity and without wearing gloves, which are mandatory. Van P. also denies this.

According to the court, the man, as a GP, abused a relationship of trust and forced his victim to tolerate sexual acts in the confined space of the treatment room. The court called it a very serious violation of the victim’s physical and mental integrity.

By order of the Healthcare and Youth Inspectorate, the man temporarily stopped practicing as a GP at the end of August.