A Sydney dermatologist who assaulted five female patients says he has dedicated his life to "helping people" and was "confronted" to hear the damage he had done.
David Wee Tong, 47, has pleaded guilty to seven counts of aggravated acts of indecency and one count of aggravated indecent assault against patients between February 1999 and January 2001.
During his sentencing hearing, Tong said he had spent his life helping others and it was difficult to hear the impact of his crimes.
"To hear a fellow person, who was entrusted to my care, had suffered enormous damage ... I found it very confronting," he told Sydney's District Court on Friday.
The court heard one of Tong's more serious offences related to a "massaging of the clitoris" of a patient.
In a victim impact statement previously read to court, one of the patients said his assault haunted her for more than a decade.
"He went about his role as a doctor to manipulate me emotionally and manoeuvred me into positions to take photographs and then to actually assault me," she said.
Tong, who is losing his eyesight due to glaucoma, said he had been "humiliated" when he had to go to a hospital where he previously worked to receive treatment.
He had been dressed in prison greens and was wearing shackles.
His barrister Chris Bruce SC said the doctor, who was previously sentenced for similar offences in Victoria, should serve only a small jail sentence because of his condition.
There was a chance he would have to undergo surgery and did not trust corrective services to administer follow-up care, Mr Bruce said.
He was also worried about being assaulted in prison because he had tunnel vision.
The court heard Tong, who says he will care for his elderly mother when he leaves custody, had been considering a new career in business or finance.
However, he had recently realised his deteriorating eyesight would render further study impossible and had considered learning to read braille.
Tong will return to court in April for further hearing.
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