Queensland GP jailed for just FOUR MONTHS after sexually assaulting a patient in front of her toddler

A GP who sexually assaulted a female patient in front of her toddler and another while she tried to flee his consultation room will serve only four months behind bars. 

John Norman Parker, 68, plead guilty to five counts of sexual assault after he attacked two female patients during consultations with them in 2024.

The incidents are understood to have occurred within days of each other at his Cleveland practice, about 30km from Brisbane’s CBD. 

The now-retired doctor was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment in Brisbane Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, but will only spend four months in custody. 

The court heard Parker rubbed his groin against both women, touched them inappropriately and told one he wished to see her in a bikini. 

Magistrate Belinda Merrin said the GP had made his female victims ‘feel powerless in [his] pursuit of sexual gratification’. 

One of the women said Parker had assaulted her in front of her little girl. 

‘I was forced to protect her innocence while simultaneously trying to control my own terror,’ the woman said in an emotional victim impact statement. 

‘Since the assault, my life has been dominated by fear, anxiety, and traumatic stress. The effect of his actions made me feel dehumanised like an object rather than a patient deserving of safety and respect. 

‘I have hidden this trauma from both of my daughters because I don’t want them growing up believing that male professionals or authority figures are inherently dangerous.’ 

Parker’s second victim also told the court how the doctor had assaulted her as she tried to leave the consultation room.

‘In a short 10-minute interval of my entire life, you destroyed the trust in me as a person,’ she said.

‘When I did manage to open the door, you just stood back with a smile on your face and said “Have a good day”.

‘I was vulnerable when I came to you for help… I still feel ashamed that I didn’t do anything.’

The court was told Parker initially denied the assaults, telling police he had ‘too much respect’ for women, before going back on his story. 

Parker’s lawyer said he was prepared to pay both women $1,500 each and serve probation, instead of a custodial sentence for the ‘low level’ offending. 

The court also heard Parker’s wife and daughter had written glowing character references for him. 

But the judge lashed the description of Parker’s offending as ‘low level’. 

‘There might be a lack of aggravating features, but can we just not use those particular descriptors, please? I find them very unhelpful,’ Magistrate Merrin said. 

In an online post seen by the Daily Mail announcing Parker’s employment in April 2024, Cleveland Medical described him as having a ‘general passion in health and wellness that brings his patients back time and time again.’

The post added: ‘Outside of work you’ll likely find him on a golf course, spending time with his family or thinking up his latest joke/s.’ 

That post has now been scrubbed from the internet.