Christchurch doctor Rakesh Chawdhry struck off for indecent assault against males patients

Rakesh Chawdhry insisted what he was doing to his patients was a legitimate medical procedure. Photo / File

A Christchurch doctor who carried out fake medical procedures on his male patients so he could indecently assault them has had his registration cancelled.

Rakesh Kumar Chawdhry, 62, was working as a GP at the Riccarton Clinic when he sexually abused 12 men between 2011 and 2015, mainly through the use of a "milking procedure" in which he tried to give them erections.

He was jailed in 2018 for four years and three months after being found guilty at a judge-alone trial at the Christchurch District Court on one charge of unlawful sexual connection and 11 of indecent assault.

He defended all the charges, arguing any physical touching was part of a legitimate medical procedure he referred to as "the milking technique" or "milking the urethra".

But expert evidence provided to the court established it was not necessary for a patient to be erect for an STI check and that the "milking technique" was not used or taught in New Zealand.

Chawdhry also argued he had no specific training on STI checks and was unaware of the inappropriateness of what he was doing, a defence which was not accepted by the judge.

On some occasions, the patients were not even visiting for a genital check-up.

Following publicity around his criminal trial, two more victims came forward and Chawdhry pleaded guilty to charges relating to them.

His case was heard in Wellington yesterday in front of the Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal. Chawdhry, who is now out of prison on parole, was not present and his lawyer did not appear to represent him.

According to the Professional Conduct Committee (PCC), Chawdhry has not practised medicine since the end of 2015 and does not hold an annual practising certificate.

Chawdhry continued to deny any sexual motivation to his offending despite the judge finding the offending was carried out with "sexualised intent".

The offences were "grave", the PCC said, and there could be no doubt it reflected on Chawdhry's fitness to practise medicine.

Prosecutor Jo Hughson said his conduct was "disgraceful".

Aggravating factors included the vulnerability of his victims - they were aged between 17 and 35 and there was a significant power imbalance, and Chawdhry took advantage of the victims' lack of medical knowledge.

Only one victim understood at the time what Chawdhry was doing was wrong.

Hughson said it was "concerning" Chawdhry continued to deny any sexual motivation behind the offending.

"In addition, multiple victims recalled sexualised comments from Dr Chawdhry."

Some now avoided seeking medical treatment and distrusted doctors or did not want to be touched.

The Tribunal cancelled Chawdhry's registration, censured him, ordered him to pay 30 per cent of the costs for the hearing, and ordered he undergo a sexual misconduct assessment test if he ever returned to practising medicine.