Doctor jailed for child sex pics
Could Brendon Hartley be out of a job?
A British paediatrician who previously worked in New Zealand hospitals is now in an English prison after making and distributing indecent images of children.
Dr Jonathan James Walsh, 47, was jailed for three years in March after pleading guilty to 17 charges, seven counts of making indecent images of children and 10 counts of distributing indecent images of children, the Daily Mail reported.
Walsh has worked in three New Zealand hospitals in the past, including the Southland, Dunedin and Palmerston North hospitals.
He was a paediatric registrar at Southland Hospital between December 1996 and December 1997 before moving on to a similar role at Dunedin Hospital from December 1997 to December 1998.
Southern District Health Board chief executive Chris Fleming described Walsh’s actions as ‘‘very disturbing’’ and said the DHB’S thoughts were with his victims, and all those impacted by his actions.
‘‘We cannot see any information on our files to suggest any behaviour of concern from the time he worked here.
‘‘If there are former patients, or parents of former patients, who wish to report concerns regarding Mr Walsh’s care of them during his time at Southland or Otago DHBS, they are encouraged to contact us, or the New Zealand Police.’’
A Medical Council of New Zealand council spokesman confirmed it had been assisting the Devon and Cornwall police with their inquiries since being made aware of Walsh’s charges on July 28, 2016.
According to the Daily Mail, Walsh, a married father-of-two, downloaded at least 27 abuse films from the internet during his time off from treating children.
He had used a hard drive cleaning programme called ‘Cyberscrub’ to erase his illegal activity.
When police confronted Walsh, he said he was a consultant paediatrician and questioned why he would need to download such images.
Walsh is in England’s Dartmoor Prison, and did not attend the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service Hearing in Manchester last week, where his conduct was described as ‘‘deplorable’’.
Following his stints in Southland and Dunedin, Walsh returned to the United Kingdom to complete his training in paediatrics.
He returned to New Zealand in 2011 and worked as a specialist paediatrician at Palmerston North Hospital between August 2011 and August 2012, before returning to the UK.
Midcentral chief medical officer Dr Kenneth Clark said there was no evidence that Walsh used his work computer inappropriately while employed by Midcentral.
No complaints were received regarding the care he provided, and no concerns were raised by patients or staff either during or following his employment, he said.
The Medical Council spokesman said although his registration remained current, Walsh had not held a practising certificate, or practised in New Zealand since September 2012.
The council would work with New Zealand Police in the event of an investigation here, he said.