A former nurse accused of sexually abusing three female patients and a nursing student said she was simply performing medical procedures.
Ali Khamis Moh’d was a clinical nurse specialist at Sydney’s private Norwest and Nepean hospitals, caring for patients scheduled for surgery in intensive care and coronary care units.
The 44-year-old is on trial in Parramatta District Court after pleading not guilty to five counts of intentional sexual contact without consent and three counts of sexual intercourse without consent.
The eight charges, relating to alleged crimes committed between December 2018 and March 2022, are aggravated given that the four women were under his authority at the time.
On Tuesday, Crown prosecutor Sarah Beaumont told jurors that as Moh’d was teaching a 21-year-old nursing student how to listen to bowel sounds using a stethoscope, he grabbed her underwear, pulled it away from her skin and looked at her genital area.
He is accused of sexually abusing a 58-year-old patient for two days by inserting a finger into her anus while giving her an enema and putting his finger in her vagina while shaving her groin before an operation.
While attending to a 25-year-old patient after she had undergone heart surgery, Moh’d was asked to inspect a wound in her groin area.
While massaging the wound, he allegedly touched her vagina before inserting his fingers, Beaumont told the jury.
Ali Khamis Moh’d is accused of sexual misconduct while working as a clinical nurse specialist
That patient began crying after leaving the room before calling his doctor to find out the proper procedure for massaging a groin wound.
She filed a complaint at the hospital before going to the police.
Jurors heard about the alleged conduct of a fourth patient, a 67-year-old woman admitted for heart surgery.
After showering, Moh’d helped her place stickers on her body connected to a heart monitoring machine.
While doing this, he allegedly touched her breast and squeezed her nipple.
“You have nice breasts for someone your age,” he allegedly told her.
“Go away, you’re embarrassing me,” the patient reportedly said before slapping her hand away.
The former nurse pleaded not guilty to five counts of intentional sexual contact without consent and three counts of sexual intercourse without consent (file image)
The same day she complained of back pain, he sat her on the bed and gave her a back massage with some cream.
“You can touch me too if you want,” he allegedly said.
Ms Beaumont said Moh had a tendency to be sexually attracted to female patients in his care and to act on those interests.
He said jurors would be asked to consider whether the nurse’s actions were done for appropriate health reasons.
“There is no place for a sexual purpose in genuine medical treatment,” he told the court.
Defense attorney Linda Barnes said her client denied sexually touching or having sexual relations with any of the four women.
“In summary, Mr Moh’d’s case is that any contact he had with the complainants was for medical purposes, that is, for health or hygiene reasons or for educational purposes,” he told the jury.
Moh’d worked as a clinical nurse with patients undergoing surgery in the intensive care and coronary care units at Nepean Private Hospital in Sydney.
He had rejected the prosecutor’s claims that certain sexual acts occurred or that he made sexualized comments to the women, Barnes said.
One of the key issues would be the honesty and reliability of the whistleblowers, including their recollections and perceptions of events, jurors heard.
Mohd appeared in court as an innocent man who had never been charged or convicted of any other crime, Barnes said.
The trial before Judge Ian Bourke continues on Wednesday.