Corpun file 13921

Townsville Bulletin, Queensland, 14 August 2004

Slap-happy doctor spanked teenage girl

By Hayley Seeney

ONE of North Queensland's leading stinger researchers has been ordered to pay $450 in fines after pleading guilty to sexual assault in a Mackay court this week.

Dr Peter Fenner, who was Surf Life Saving Australia's national and state medical officer, admitted he spanked a female employee at his surgery in late May.

No conviction was recorded against Fenner.

The court heard the 57-year-old doctor spanked a 17-year-old female employee at the Mackay Family Medicine centre on May 22.

The incident occurred when the teenager made a mistake with some paperwork and Fenner asked her to bend over some office equipment and spanked her a number of times.

A SLSA spokeswoman said Fenner voluntarily stood down from his position as national and state medical officer when the charges were laid earlier this year.

She said his standing in SLSA depended on the outcome of the court case and SLSA would not comment further until the organisation received a formal notification of the court outcome.

It is believed Fenner's membership will be part of the discussion at a national SLSA meeting this weekend.

Fenner, who was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia last year, is an associate professor at James Cook University's School of Medicine.

JCU spokesman Professor Ian Wronski was unavailable for comment yesterday.