Appeal court revisits case of psychiatrist Cimický: five years' imprisonment for sexual assaults
The Municipal Court in Prague is hearing an appeal in the case of psychiatrist Jan Cimický, who was convicted of extortion and sexual assaults on female patients. Cimický denies the allegations.
Appeal court returns to psychiatrist Cimický's case
The Municipal Court in Prague has begun hearing an appeal in the case of psychiatrist Jan Cimický, as reported by Czech News. The District Court initially sentenced him to five years' imprisonment and a ten-year ban on practising his profession for extortion and sexual assaults. The appeal court is dealing with the case for the second time — on its first hearing, it quashed the guilty verdict due to procedural defects.
The eighty-eight-year-old doctor has long denied the allegations. According to the prosecution, the criminal conduct took place between 1979 and 2019, with the victims being mostly his female patients.
The prosecutor charged Cimický with 35 cases of extortion and four counts of rape. The victims are primarily patients of Bohnice Psychiatric Hospital and the Modrá laguna mental health centre, which Cimický established himself after leaving Bohnice. Among the victims are also female students who completed internships at the Bohnice treatment facility. The prosecutor emphasised that the doctor acted with awareness of the authority and public prestige that flowed from his position.
A substantial part of the offences were classified as extortion due to the legal definition of rape at that time. The old criminal code defined rape as forcing someone into intercourse or similar sexual activity by violence or under threat of violence. The criminal code in force since 2010 also includes threats of serious harm. However, the District Court reclassified offences originally categorised as rape to the criminal offence of sexual assault — a category introduced into law only last year. For Cimický, this legal reclassification represents a more favourable position.
Source: České noviny