As seen in this report, people are not please that this psychiatrist got off, essentially scot-free.
Child psychiatrist Selwyn Leeks, who used a bizarre form of electric-shock therapy to punish young children, has escaped scrutiny by promising never to practise again, a day before the start of a long-awaited investigation into his work.
Dr Leeks, 77, agreed to stop practising this Tuesday — the eve of hearings by the Medical Practitioners Board of Victoria into his use of "aversion therapy" on young children in New Zealand in the 1970s.
The board has been investigating Dr Leeks, who has been practising in Cheltenham since 1984, for seven years. Last week it wrote to the complainants, saying that after receiving Dr Leeks' undertaking, it had decided not to proceed with a formal hearing into his professional conduct.
Earlier, it had decided to formally investigate complaints from 16 of the 50 people who had provided statements about the psychiatrist.
The move has outraged his victims, many of whom have waited years for their day in court. Most were children aged between eight and 16 when they were given the shock treatment.
They were dumped in New Zealand's notorious Lake Alice Hospital, near Wanganui, where Dr Leeks ran the child and adolescent unit, after welfare authorities decided they were too difficult to manage.
They say they were punished for minor breaches of discipline by electroconvulsive therapy, administered by Dr Leeks, and with pain-inducing injections.
Yesterday, Kevin Banks, whose experiences at the hands of Dr Leeks were detailed in The Age in 1999, said of the medical board's decision: "He has stuffed up so many lives. This is just terrible and very upsetting."
Sharyn Collis, who was in Lake Alice Hospital in 1973 and 1974, said: "This is a kick in the teeth. We just want someone to be accountable for this."
NZ police are reviewing complaints from 34 of Dr Leeks' former "patients" to determine whether criminal charges can be considered.
Dr Leeks' decision to stop practising also casts doubt on a second medical board inquiry into alleged sexual misconduct.
The complainant, who does not wish to be identified, claims that Dr Leeks fondled her and requested sexual acts in 1979 and 1980. After a preliminary examination, the medical board determined to conduct a formal inquiry into the claims, but this is unlikely to proceed.
The woman said: "The cowardice and arrogance of the man is unbelievable."
In the County Court in February, Judge Graham Anderson found it was "just and reasonable" for the normal time limit on legal action to be extended so that the woman could pursue damages against Dr Leeks.
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