Child sex doctor is struck off
DISGRACED MEDIC TAKEN OFF MEDICAL REGISTER AFTER MEETING 15-YEAR-OLD GIRL FOR SEX
A CHILDREN’S doctor who had sex with a 15-year-old schoolgirl has been struck off the medical register – after the probation service warned he remained a risk to vulnerable teenage girls.
Jonathan Bainbridge, 40, left his pregnant wife in Cardiff and drove 180 miles to North Wales to meet the teenager, where he and the girl engaged in oral sex in his car.
He had met her in an online chatroom where they traded indecent sexual images.
At his sentencing last year, he was ordered to sign the sex offenders’ register for five years and complete 250 hours’ unpaid work and was obliged to refer himself for a disciplinary hearing – which has now resulted in him being struck off.
The Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) determined that: “Given the serious nature of Dr Bainbridge’s convictions, it was both necessary and proportionate to impose an immediate order of suspension on his registration pending the erasure of his name from the Medical Register.
“This immediate order serves to protect the public, to uphold public confidence in the medical profession, and to maintain and uphold proper standards of conduct and behaviour.”
The MPTS heard the teenager was from a “troubled background” and had carers to help her as she was at risk of sexual exploitation from older men.
Bainbridge, who earned £100,000 a year as a paediatric hospital consultant with Aneurin Bevan University Health Board, made contact with the girl over a seven-day period through online messaging app Kik, using the pseudonym “Cardiff Boy JD” which included a number linked to his work.
The girl told the doctor she was “lonely”, that she was a virgin, was still in school and that she was under local authority care.
Carlo Breen, lawyer for the General Medical Council, told the Manchester hearing: “During the conversation that took place on the messenger app the child told Dr Bainbridge she was 16 and he replied he was 37 years of age.
“He sent a live picture of himself that identified his face and further messages were exchanged in which he stated he lived in Cardiff. They discussed meeting on March 26. During the initial conversation they discussed the fact that she was in school, that she was lonely and she was in local authority care.
“On March 24 he requests explicit images of the child but she refused; however, indecent images of genital areas were exchanged before they met late that evening.
“CCTV footage noted a female matching the description of the child sitting at a bus stop. The female was approached by Dr Bainbridge and they walked out of view. It appears there was a sexual encounter between Dr Bainbridge and the child.’’
Bainbridge was arrested after the victim told social workers of the encounter, admitting he had sex with her, but insisted the girl had told him she was 16.
He pleaded guilty to possessing a Category A moving image of a child under 16 and of possessing Category C indecent images of a child.
Bainbridge was suspended following his arrest and moved out of the family home.
He said he was unable to attend the birth of his third child due to the nature of the charges.
In a statement to the MPTS, Bainbridge said his conduct was a “catastrophic error of judgement that has blighted the lives of everyone”.
He added: “My behaviour has significantly strayed from what is expected from a doctor and I have severely damaged the public’s trust in the medical profession.
“I have failed to live up to the standards expected of a doctor and have abused the public’s trust in the profession.”
A probation report from last month noted: “The risk he poses is specifically to female teenagers who are vulnerable.”
The tribunal noted: “There remains a risk of relapse, particularly at the completion of Dr Bainbridge’s criminal sentence.”