A Sydney chiropractor jailed for sexually abusing a female patient has lost a desperate bid to be released from prison, with his text messages to his victim playing a major role in the State Supreme Court.
Riaz Behi was sentenced to nine years in prison after being found guilty of 13 sex offences against a Japanese national who was a patient at his clinic in Sydney’s CBD.
Behi remains in prison after the Court of Appeals unanimously rejected his appeal on Friday.
The crimes were committed against the victim, whose identity cannot be established, during 17 appointments spread over a three-month period, from late January to April 2019.
A jury convicted him of eight counts of sexual contact without consent and five counts of sexual intercourse without consent.
The woman, a Japanese woman who spoke little English, went to Behi at The Back Guys clinic on York Street for treatment for pain in her lower back and groin.
The court heard that she used Google Translate to communicate with Behi during the hearings.
At her first hearing, she was asked to undress and wrote in her notes: “I didn’t know what to do, the way things are in Australia,” the court was told.
Riaz Behi was jailed for nine years after being found guilty of 13 sexual offences against a Japanese national who was a patient at his clinic in Sydney’s CBD
During the third appointment in January 2019, she said Behi touched her close to her anus.
In her statement to the court, through an interpreter, she said that at a subsequent hearing he had ordered her to remove her underwear completely.
As she lay on her back, he touched her groin and genitals, causing her to be “humiliated”, the court was told.
At another hearing, she told the court that he had massaged her clitoris and inserted his finger into her anus.
She said she told him “stop” and “no,” and that when he asked her if she wanted him to stop, she said “yes, yes, yes.”
The woman said she was shocked by his actions, adding that he had been recommended by a friend who trusted him at the time.
During his testimony, Behi denied that there was any non-consensual sexual contact.
“I find you very attractive. I have no intention of getting anything from you or taking anything away from you. I’m sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable,” he said in a message to her.
The prosecution argued he took advantage of a “vulnerable” woman, who initially thought his offence was a mistake or that this was normal practice in Australia.
Behi appealed his conviction, arguing, among other things, that the jury’s verdict was not supported by the evidence.
The prosecution argued that Behi (left) took advantage of a “vulnerable” woman, who initially thought his offending was a mistake or that this was the way things were done in Australia.
Judge Julie Ward, one of three judges hearing Behi’s appeal, said: “I have no reasonable doubt as to the appellant’s guilt on the charges on which he has been convicted.”
The court was told the woman had sent him a text message saying: “You touched my crotch in February.”
In a subsequent text message, she asked him why he was touching her vagina.
Judge Ward wrote: ‘(Behi) asked if they could talk about it in person.
‘If we pause to consider this for a moment, it suggests that something of a sexual nature did indeed take place on February 14, 2019.’
The three-member panel, consisting of Justices Ward, Stephen Campbell and Richard Button, unanimously dismissed his appeal on Friday.
“I am of the opinion that (Behi’s) text messages provide significant support for the Crown’s contention that the disputed incidents of sexual contact did indeed occur,” Justice Button said.
Behi was sentenced to nine years in prison, with a minimum sentence of five years and six months.
His next possible release on probation is in September 2027.