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February 11, 2009 12:00am
A MELBOURNE doctor had a four-year sexual relationship with his daughter and fathered her child.
The doctor met his adult daughter in 1991 and their son was born in 1995. The daughter had been adopted out soon after she was born in the 1960s.
It is reminiscent of the case of a South Australian father and daughter, who made headlines last year when they showed their nine-month-old daughter on a television program.
In the Victorian County Court on Friday, the doctor was sentenced to a 12-month jail term suspended for two years.
The daughter has not been charged.
The Medical Practitioners Board is seeking legal advice about whether it can suspend his licence to practise.
The judge said the doctor should have known about the risks of congenital defects as a result of incestuous relationships.
He said the man's son was fine physically, but only time would tell if he suffered psychological damage as a result of knowing that his father was also his grandfather.
The doctor told a psychiatrist that he could not understand how the relationship developed.
"It was so overwhelming. The feelings were so strong," he said. "I didn't have any clear idea why. Incest is abhorrent to me and (my daughter)."
The pair began a sexual relationship within 72 hours of meeting for the first time when the doctor had gone to Britain to meet her.
The woman soon moved to Melbourne and they lived together.
The woman has since left Australia, but she made a statutory declaration attempting to put the bizarre nature of the relationship into context, the judge said.
The incest was uncovered during Family Court proceedings involving access for another of the doctor's children.
The doctor, now in his 60s, pleaded guilty to one count of incest. The judge said the doctor had no prior convictions.
He said the doctor was a hard-working and conscientious medical practitioner who saw more than 150 patients a week.
But he said the doctor's crime had nothing to do with his work.
"There is no evidence before me that my sentence today will affect your right to practise . . ." the judge said.
He said the unique circumstances of the case had to be taken into account, including that the pair met as adults, were consenting participants, and they did not have a background as father and daughter.
Medical Practitioners Board spokeswoman Nicole Newton said the board would immediately refer the matter to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal for a hearing.
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