Kay Dibben
A FEMALE psychologist who was treating an autistic sexual abuse victim ending up having a sexual relationship with him.
Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal has heard that the psychologist, then in her early 30s, knew the 18-year-old, who had a mental age of a 13 or 14-year-old, thought she looked like his former special needs teacher who had had sex with him.
Despite the teenager developing an inappropriate personal interest in her, the psychologist did not refer him to another psychologist.
He had been referred to her because he was considered at risk of suicide, because he was feeling loss and guilt over his sexual relationship with the female teacher.
The Health Ombudsman brought a disciplinary charge against the psychologist based on the inappropriate and sexual relationship she had with the vulnerable teenage client in 2015. The psychologist created a name on Facebook with an image of a blonde who looked similar to her and the teen’s abusive ex-teacher, QCAT heard.
At one stage they were declaring their love for each other in messages, calling each other “baby’’ and the psychologist once sent the teenager 73 text messages in 14 minutes.
“I admit I acted unprofessionally, unethically. I was not of sound mind,’’ the psychologist, who claims she had borderline personality disorder at the time, told the tribunal.
She told her own psychologist that the teenager, who was diagnosed with an intellectual impairment at the age of eight, manipulated and groomed her.
Since 2015 she has been barred from working in a clinical or non-clinical health role.
The Health Ombudsman has asked that she be disqualified from applying for registration for two years and prohibited from practising. The tribunal reserved its decision.