Doctor David Lim denied parole, continues to deny offending

David Lim, pictured here at the Napier District Court, in 2017, was convicted of stupefying and indecently assaulting male patients. Photo / File

Disgraced Hastings doctor David Kang Huat Lim has been declined parole because Lim, who now identifies as female, is in denial of her offending.

Lim is serving a sentence of five years' imprisonment on five charges of disabling or stupefying and five charges of indecent assault on a male over 16.

She was found guilty at a jury trial which lasted 10 days.

She treated each of the complainants for minor ailments at The Doctors in Hastings throughout an eight-month period in 2014, using a drug to render the victims unconscious before indecently assaulting them.

Each was sedated with Midazolam and testified to waking up to find their GP touching their private parts.

"Ashamed" and "embarrassed" were words repeatedly used by the men to describe how they felt after being sexually assaulted.

"Everyone trusts a doctor," one of the victims said.

Her sentence commencement date was August 18, 2017.

At the parole board hearing on February 10 at Tongariro Prison Lim denied her offending.

The Parole Assessment Report (PAR) showed she had not undertaken any rehabilitative intervention and had no safety plan for release.

"It is said that she has the support of her family in Malaysia who are 'aware of her offending'," the board stated.

Lim said one of her family members was a lawyer and had received details of the charges from her lawyer in New Zealand.

"She confirmed that while her family is aware of the nature of the charges and the fact of her conviction they also believe her denial of the offending and it therefore follows they do not accept that she is guilty," the board said.

She was assessed as a low risk of reoffending.

In denying parole the board said she was considered to pose an undue risk, whether released in New Zealand or in Malaysia.

The board will see her again before the end of July 2021.