Dentist is accused of sexually assaulting his young patients, including bumping his head against a teenage girl
- Bassem Fouad accused of sexually abusing patients
- The dentist, 55, has pleaded not guilty to all charges
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Touching people is a necessary part of being a dentist, argues a Sydney practitioner accused of sexually assaulting several patients.
There is no question that Bassem Fouad touched his patients, but he did not sexually assault them, says the dentist’s attorney, Jeffrey Clarke.
“When you go to the dentist, people are close together,” Mr Clarke told Downing Center District Court on Wednesday.
“There’s something touching.”
Fouad faces nine counts of aggravated sexual assault, indecent assault under authority and intentional sexual assault on a child.
The 55-year-old man pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Fouad faces nine counts of aggravated sexual assault, indecent assault under authority and intentional sexual touching of a child
Fouad would also place his dental tools on their breasts, the prosecutor alleges (stock photo)
He is accused of often pressing against his patients when he is excited, prosecutor Daniel Noll told the court earlier.
Fouad would also put his dental tools on their breasts, the prosecutor claims.
Mr Clarke said it was for the jury to decide whether the touching was done for sexual gratification.
“That’s a matter of fact for you to decide … whether he touches himself as part of the cheap thrill of doing what he does,” he said.
Fouad is accused by five women who were regular patients in two dental clinics in Mascot. The names of the women cannot be mentioned for legal reasons.
Another patient, who was 15 at the time, said she had to slide off the dental chair to avoid Fouad, who started to push herself against her head (stock photo)
“It’s not pain you can feel, it’s just pressure,” the suspect allegedly told a patient who reported feeling his crotch against her head.
Mr Noll told the jury that a woman said she felt something ’round like a sausage’ move from side to side against her arm.
Another patient, who was 15 at the time, said she had to slide off the dental chair to avoid Fouad, who started to push herself against her head.
Two reports were made to the police in 2016 and 2021. Fouad denied the accusation each time.
Mr Noll told the court that CCTV footage from 2021 showed the dentist regularly touching his groin and a patient’s chest on one occasion.
The footage also showed Fouad taking off his gloves and pulling his penis out of his pants. Both Mr Clarke and Mr Noll said the dentist explained to police that he was doing this because of a medical condition.
The process continues.
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