'Bra man' grabbed patients

Owen Yaemes (aka Owen Zhan) was found guilty of indecent assault in Tauranga District Court. Photo / Bay of Plenty Times

A fake doctor known as the "bra man" groped the breasts of three female patients while treating them.

Owen Yaemes assaulted one woman by massaging her breast inside her bra as she lay on a treatment table. He then asked her to stand facing the wall before coming up behind her, grasping both breasts and pulling her back into his chest and thrusting his pelvis forward while sexually aroused.

Yaemes, who claimed to be a doctor of traditional Chinese medicine and practised acupuncture and massage, also assaulted two women by manhandling their breasts inside their bra cups while adjusting their bra fittings.

The 67-year-old Papamoa man, who practised under the name Owen Zhan from his home clinic owned by his wife, was on Thursday found guilty of three charges of indecent assault after a two-day defended hearing in Tauranga District Court. Name suppression was lifted and he will be sentenced on April 18.

Each charge attracts a maximum sentence of seven years' prison.

All complaints related to acupuncture treatments. Two victims testified Yaemes manhandled their breasts inside their bra cups under the pretext of adjusting their bra fittings during treatments in late 2006.

The third victim said her breasts were groped during her only appointment last April.

The first victim said that during her fourth visit for a back complaint, Yaemes told her she was not wearing her bra correctly. He undid it, loosened the straps then stood in front of her and without warning placed his hands inside the cups, cupped her breasts and adjusted them.

She was "shocked' and "felt violated" and never went back.

The second victim, who sought treatment for a rib injury, said that during one visit Yaemes told her he was going to check she was wearing her bra correctly. He removed her bra completely, adjusted the straps, put it back on her and without warning cupped her breasts inside the bra and adjusted them, she said.

Yaemes, she said, told her he had been described by other patients as the "bra man". Both women complained to police.

Judge Thomas Ingram found Yaemes guilty. He said the defendant described himself as a doctor of traditional Chinese medicine but had no formal qualifications. As part of his bail conditions, Yaemes is banned from treating patients.