Indian origin male nurse sentenced in Australia for sex with patient

An Indian-origin nurse, Kennedy Swamy, has been jailed for a maximum of three years for having sex with a patient with bipolar disorder at a Melbourne hospital last month. Swamy, who migrated to Australia from India in 2006, had pleaded guilty at the Victorian County Court to two charges of sexually penetrating a person with a cognitive impairment. He must serve a minimum of 15 months' jail before being eligible for parole.

Swamy was employed as a division two nurse at the health service at a Melbourne youth mental health service last year where he met an 18-year-old woman admitted with bipolar disorder. According to reports, the 29-year-old had sex with the patient in the bathroom on March 7 and again after two days. Judge Wendy Wilmoth at the Victorian County Court said the victim disclosed the sexual activity while participating in a therapy session the following day, saying at first she thought it was okay, but then realised it was wrong.

Judge Wilmoth said that due to her illness the victim's decision-making ability would have been severely impaired, and Swamy should have been aware from his training that sexual indiscretions were a breach of his duties.  "You breached the trust placed in you as a carer of a vulnerable person who was in a fragile state," News.com.au quoted Judge Wilmoth, as saying.