A psychologist told a court he was behaving within the guidelines of the Australian Psychological Society when he told a young woman patient to wear a dog collar and call him "master."
Bruce Beaton, 64, has pleaded not guilty in the Western Australia state District Court in the state capital Perth to sexually assaulting the 22-year-old woman he was treating for bulimia at his clinic in the neighboring city of Fremantle between January and March 2005.
Beaton told the court he had resorted to drastic treatment because gentle methods were not working.
He said he thought role playing a master/submissive relationship would help build a more trusting relationship so he made her wear a dog collar, call him "master" and he cracked a whip in treatment sessions.
He said such treatment was allowed by Australia's largest professional association for psychologists.
"It is right within the ethical guidelines," Beaton told the court.
Beaton was arrested when police raided his office in March 2005 after hearing whipping sounds while they secretly video-recorded one of his sessions through a camera hidden in the patient's bag.
The jury has watched the tape on which Beaton is heard calling the woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, his "delicious" submissive and she calls him "master."
She is seen wearing a dog collar and heard swearing an oath to offer her body to him in order "to become a better person."
Beaton produces a pink cat-o'-nine tails -- a whip with line lashes -- which is heard, but not seen, cracking 12 times before police intervene.
Beaton denied ever whipping his patient. The woman, now aged 24, told the court last week that he had repeatedly whipped her and that the lashes had stung like rose thorns.
She said she was often told to take her clothes off during therapy sessions, and when she refused to remove her underwear, she was beaten with a wire coat hanger.
Prosecutor Amanda Forrester told the court the woman complained to police the day after being forced to lie naked on a couch in his clinic while he sexually assaulted her.
The trial continues. The maximum penalty Beaton faces was not immediately clear.
END OF AN ERA: The vote brings the curtain down on 20 years of socialist rule, which began in 2005 when Evo Morales, an indigenous coca farmer, was elected president A center-right senator and a right-wing former president are to advance to a run-off for Bolivia’s presidency after the first round of elections on Sunday, marking the end of two decades of leftist rule, preliminary official results showed. Bolivian Senator Rodrigo Paz was the surprise front-runner, with 32.15 percent of the vote cast in an election dominated by a deep economic crisis, results published by the electoral commission showed. He was followed by former Bolivian president Jorge “Tuto” Quiroga in second with 26.87 percent, according to results based on 92 percent of votes cast. Millionaire businessman Samuel Doria Medina, who had been tipped
ELECTION DISTRACTION? When attention shifted away from the fight against the militants to politics, losses and setbacks in the battlefield increased, an analyst said Recent clashes in Somalia’s semi-autonomous Jubaland region are alarming experts, exposing cracks in the country’s federal system and creating an opening for militant group al-Shabaab to gain ground. Following years of conflict, Somalia is a loose federation of five semi-autonomous member states — Puntland, Jubaland, Galmudug, Hirshabelle and South West — that maintain often fractious relations with the central government in the capital, Mogadishu. However, ahead of elections next year, Somalia has sought to assert control over its member states, which security analysts said has created gaps for al-Shabaab infiltration. Last week, two Somalian soldiers were killed in clashes between pro-government forces and
Ten cheetah cubs held in captivity since birth and destined for international wildlife trade markets have been rescued in Somaliland, a breakaway region of Somalia. They were all in stable condition despite all of them having been undernourished and limping due to being tied in captivity for months, said Laurie Marker, founder of the Cheetah Conservation Fund, which is caring for the cubs. One eight-month-old cub was unable to walk after been tied up for six months, while a five-month-old was “very malnourished [a bag of bones], with sores all over her body and full of botfly maggots which are under the
BRUSHED OFF: An ambassador to Australia previously said that Beijing does not see a reason to apologize for its naval exercises and military maneuvers in international areas China set off alarm bells in New Zealand when it dispatched powerful warships on unprecedented missions in the South Pacific without explanation, military documents showed. Beijing has spent years expanding its reach in the southern Pacific Ocean, courting island nations with new hospitals, freshly paved roads and generous offers of climate aid. However, these diplomatic efforts have increasingly been accompanied by more overt displays of military power. Three Chinese warships sailed the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand in February, the first time such a task group had been sighted in those waters. “We have never seen vessels with this capability
RSS