INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Di Paolo was convicted of 50 offences, including procuring sexual penetration
(Representational)Sydney: A man who pretended to be a gynaecologist and fertility specialist for a decade was labelled a "base charlatan"
by a Melbourne judge and jailed for more than nine years Friday for assault and fraud.Prosecutors said Raffaele Di Paolo, 61, performed
treatments on 30 women and some men, including conducting insemination procedures and removing semen from testicles with a needle, despite
having no professional qualifications.He was convicted in April of more than 50 offences, including procuring sexual penetration by fraud
and indecent assault at Melbourne clinics between 2005 and 2015.Judge Bill Stuart said at the sentencing hearing that Di Paolo was a "base
charlatan" who carried out a "long-term and determined fraud"."You exploited their vulnerability, consistently without regard for the effect
on these men and women," Melbourne's The Age reported Stuart as saying."You encouraged false hope, wrongfully touched them and penetrated
their bodies, took large sums of their money, scarring them, some perhaps for life."Stuart sentenced Di Paolo -- who also reportedly fleeced
his patients of more than Aus$300,000 (US$221,800) -- to nine years and six months behind bars, with a non-parole period of six years and
six months.The prosecution had said there was no evidence Di Paolo committed the offences for sexual gratification.The court was told Di
Paolo escaped being jailed in Italy for practising without a licence by claiming he had Australian qualifications, The Age reported.(Except
for the headline, this story has not been edited by TheIndianSubcontinent staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
