Jail for physio who assaulted two women at his clinic on the same day
Two women have been left “traumatised” after being sexually assaulted by a veteran physiotherapist on the same day at his Brisbane clinic.
Scott Alexander Stuart Mackay, 48, has been jailed for a āconsiderable breach of trustā after touching both patientsā vaginas within hours of each other at his Windsor business in January 2019.
In only her second session with the father-of-four, the first woman received treatment for knee pain before Mackay moved his hand up to her thigh, her groin and then underneath her underwear.
Mackay then rested his fingers ābetween folds of my labiaā for about a minute, the woman said in transcripts read in Brisbane District Court.
The second woman arrived for her first session with Mackay ā a physio with 25 yearsā experience ā later that day to address back pain.
She āfrozeā when Mackay placed his fingers across her vagina as she lay on her side.
She didnāt tell anyone until July 2019 when she saw a Queensland Police Facebook post about the first womanās complaint and contacted officers.
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āFor a man of your position (it is) a considerable breach of trust,ā Judge Julie Dick told Mackay on Thursday.
āYou have obviously caused irreparable damage to the trust of those two patients.ā
Reliving the experience as witnesses at Mackayās trial had compounded the victimsā pain, Dick said.
āNot only have they been traumatised by the experience but ā¦ they have been traumatised by the court experience,ā she said.
āBoth were subject to cross-examination. It was put clearly to both of them that the event they described didnāt happen.
āThe jury found it did happen and I am not surprised. They were very sound witnesses.ā
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But Dick also noted the āirreparable damageā Mackay had caused personally and professionally before delivering her sentence.
After his arrest, Mackay closed down the physio business he had operated since 2001.
His sentence was reduced due to the āextra-curial punishmentā he had endured, Dick said.
She also accepted defence barrister Kate Juhaszās submission that Mackayās time in prison would be difficult due to an ongoing medical condition.
āYour considerable errors of judgment in relation to these two young women have had calamitous effects on your life, on your profession,ā she said.
āYou have been publicly shamed. Your family has felt that. They have been shamed.
āYou have undergone suffering since (his arrest).ā
Mackay was on trial for one count each of rape and sexual assault.
He was found guilty on Wednesday of two counts of sexual assault.
Mackay on Thursday was sentenced to 12 monthsā jail, with the term to be suspended for three years after serving three months.
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