Tears as cosmetic doctor and Cleo bachelor admits assault on woman
A Melbourne cosmetic surgeon sobbed in court on Wednesday as a magistrate spared him a conviction for assaulting a woman and causing injuries to her face.
Richard George Young, 54, pleaded guilty at Moorabbin Magistrates’ Court to an unlawful assault at his Brighton home in late 2021.
Richard Young leaving court on Wednesday.Credit:Joe Armao
Magistrate Jade Bott said it was a serious example of the crime as the woman was trying to leave when she was attacked.
“She’s bleeding, distressed at that point with visible signs of injury and you stand over her … as a medical professional … and do not offer to assist,” Bott said.
“You respond in the most violent of ways. The effect of the offending on the victim … is profound.”
Police prosecutor Senior Constable Amara Bostock said the woman was visiting Young’s home when an argument took place and she threw a Polaroid camera at a wardrobe, breaking it.
Dr Richard Young has been suspended.
Bostock said when the woman attempted to leave soon after, Young forcefully pushed her into a door frame, causing her to bleed from her forehead and fall to the ground.
A hospital medical report later stated she had also suffered abrasions over her nose, which was mildly swollen and tender. Young was arrested soon after.
Richard Young was a Cleo bachelor of the year contender.
On Wednesday, he pleaded guilty to a single charge of assault after the more serious charge of recklessly causing injury was withdrawn by the prosecution.
In a victim impact statement read out in court by the prosecutor, the victim said her most basic and fundamental right to feel safe had been violated. As her statement was read out in court the woman was clearly distressed.
She said she was initially apprehensive about speaking out, fearing she’d become another statistic and “get lost amongst the noise”.
“What happened last year is a memory I often avoid reliving as it sends me into a spiral of pain and anxiety. This type of violence changes you as a person and it continues to permeate my life on a daily basis,” she said.
“The psychological effects of what occurred that night run deep, I am plagued by severe anxiety. I experience flashbacks of the assault. This trauma consumes me. I am exhausted.”
A former Cleo bachelor of the year nominee, Young specialises in “anti-ageing injectables and overall skin health” at Vogue Medical in South Yarra.
In August 2022, Young posted on his Vogue Medical clinic’s Instagram page that he “had an urgent personal matter arise and has taken leave as a result.”
Inquiries by The Age found the medical industry regulator suspended Young’s registration after imposing a raft of strict conditions late last year, including a requirement that he must not have contact with female patients without a chaperone approved by the Medical Board of Australia.
The doctor, a former Ivanhoe Grammar student and University of Melbourne graduate, is also limited to 44 hours of practice a week, can only work from the Vogue Medical clinic, and must provide access to Medicare and billing data to the board.
The recent conditions imposed on Young’s registration are not his first brush with the board.
In 2000, he was suspended from practising for less than a year after he was found to have had sex with two female patients who were sex workers.
He was again banned for less than a year in 2004, after he made inappropriate comments to a woman while performing a pap smear.
In 2010, his registration was cancelled and he was disqualified for 12 months after offering a prostitute $50 for oral sex following a consultation in March 2004. He had previously had sex with the worker at a brothel before she became his patient.
Young also admitted to unprofessional conduct for prescribing a potentially dangerous narcotic painkiller to the woman, who was already on methadone.
A receptionist at Vogue Medical recently told The Age that Young was on personal leave.
On Wednesday, Young’s barrister Ian Hill, KC, said his client – who was born in London and spent some of his childhood in Jamaica before moving to Australia with his parents aged nine – had sought psychological treatment to address his issues.
Despite having no criminal record, the pending charges had meant Young had been unable to work since the incident, with his right to practise currently suspended, Hill confirmed.
Hill said the outcome of Wednesday’s hearing would probably have an impact on the medical board review and said a non-conviction might help Young get back to work.
“He has not sat on his hands, but sought to embark upon a process of self-education and rehabilitation so that there will never ever be an incident,” Hill said.
“A non-conviction would assist him in getting his right to practise medicine back. His ability to earn income in part defines him.”
Young sobbed in court, holding his head in his hands as he was told no conviction would be imposed.
Bott said she would instead sentence Young to an eight-month community corrections order with a no conviction due to his plea of guilty.
She ordered Young also undertake 80 hours of community service and prohibited him from leaving the state of Victoria without the permission of corrections staff while the order is in place.
Any contravention of the order, Bott said, could result in Young being imprisoned.
He declined to comment when contacted.
If you or anyone you know needs support, you can contact the National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence Counselling Service on 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732).
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