A Sydney GP found to have sexually molested a teenage patient being treated for an eating disorder has failed in his attempt to return to medicine after later blaming his wife for sending the girl a series of text messages.
Hazem Chahoud, 64, will remain banned from practising as a doctor for at least another year. A tribunal found he made “physical sexual advances” towards the young patient in his consultation room in 2018.
At the time, Chahoud was working at a medical centre in Campbelltown, in Sydney’s south-west.
Appearing before the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal earlier this year, Chahoud asked for his medical registration to be restored and acknowledged that he had shown a “serious failure of judgment”.
“More importantly, I have spent this time honestly examining how I reached this point. I now understand that good intentions were never enough,” he said in his opening submission.
“I allowed a professional relationship to become personal. When I was afraid of the consequences, I chose concealment over honesty, and I involved my wife in that concealment.”
The tribunal heard the patient, who had bulimia, first saw Chahoud in June 2018. During that consultation, he gave her his personal contact details and home address. She was 17 at the time.
At their final consultation in September, Chahoud kissed her on the face, ran his hand down her back below her bra strap, hugged her and moved his hand up her thigh, the tribunal found. He did not stop when she asked him to.
Sydney GP Hazem Chahoud has been barred from practising medicine after a tribunal found he made sexual advances towards a teenage patient in his consultation room
A tribunal heard the girl, who was suffering from bulimia, disclosed that Chahoud had kissed and touched her (stock image)
In the days that followed, he sent her several messages from his personal mobile phone. One ended with “love heart” emojis, the tribunal was told.
The patient made a complaint about Chahoud’s conduct shortly after the incident, the tribunal heard.
When he later appeared before the Medical Council of New South Wales, Chahoud denied the allegations and claimed his wife had sent the messages from his phone.
His account was backed by a signed statement from his wife and, later, by his former solicitor.
“Mrs Chahoud admitted she sent all text messages and the reasons she did so,” Chahoud told the Health Care Complaints Commission in 2020.
The tribunal heard he continued to deny responsibility until the Commission produced Vodafone phone records and location data indicating the messages had been sent from his medical practice.
Chahoud’s medical registration was cancelled in 2022 after an earlier tribunal found he had engaged in the “most serious” misconduct.
He had told that tribunal the girl kissed him first, but the claim was later found to be untrue.
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Chahoud told the Daily Mail it had not been “easy” since his medical registration was cancelled
He also accepted that he had falsely told the Medical Council his wife was responsible for sending the text messages.
‘At that moment I was feeling hopeless and helpless. I thought I had lost my children’s future. That is why I said that,’ he told the tribunal.
In their findings, the 2022 tribunal concluded that Chahoud had fabricated evidence ‘to avoid damage to his career, his income or the consequences of his behaviour upon his family.’
The tribunal added: ‘That fabrication we find went to the extent of having his wife provide a false statement which he intended to use and did use in a proceeding before the Medical Council where he knew he was required to be truthful.’
Similar concerns were raised by the panel considering his latest reinstatement application less than two months ago.
They described Chahoud as an ‘unreliable historian’ and dismissed his application, ordering him to pay for the Commission’s costs.
‘Even though the Practitioner has achieved improvement in his physical and mental health, to date, he has demonstrated little insight into his behaviour,’ they said in a judgment handed down on September 17.
‘He failed to disclose his persistent lying to his psychologist. He has made no attempt to explore and address, with his therapists, the root causes of his behaviour, in particular his dishonesty.
‘Without such necessary insight and relevant treatment, he continues to be at risk of engaging in such behaviour.’
When contacted by the Daily Mail on Tuesday, Chahoud would not comment on the findings made against him as it was a ‘very important thing’ but said he’d struggled to find work in the years since.
‘This was seven years ago. It’s not easy,’ he said.
Chahoud’s medical registration remains cancelled, according to records held by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency.
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1800 Respect (1800 737 732)
National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028
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