Tears flow in doctor’s trial on sex for drugs

Karen Hart
A FORMER drug addict broke down in tears yesterday as she told a Geelong court how a doctor repeatedly injected her with drugs in exchange for oral sex over a period of 12 years.
The woman, who had worked as a prostitute, said she only ever visited Dr Mario Marchesani for “a hit”.
“It was easier to go see Mario when I was struggling than to get a hit off the street,” she told Geelong County Court.
Marchesani, 79, of Newtown, has pleaded not guilty to 15 counts of drug trafficking.
The witness, a mother-of-two, said she first met Marchesani at his surgery about 14 years ago.
Under cross-examination from David Hollows for Marchesani, the witness repeatedly denied she had visited him solely for medical purposes.
She denied ever being paid for the sexual servies.
She cried while admitting it was possible Marchesani had treated her for medical ailments including depression, anxiety, back pain and vaginal infections.
But she insisted her only reason for seeing Marchesani was for an “injection”.
“There are so many times to remember,” she told the court.
“I was a drug addict. Mario might have written some of these things (medical ailments) in his file to cover giving me drugs.
“He prescribed me a lot of pain-killers. He wanted to keep me on drugs to keep me going there.
“All he wanted was to keep me there for his owns needs and wants. I was only there for an injection.”
The witness alleged Marchesani did not always swipe her Medicare card. He would put her pethidine dose under the name of cancer patients to cover his tracks.
The witness rejected Mr Hollows’ accusations that she was lying.
“I saw him do it,” she said.
“I was there, you weren’t there.”
The witness said Marchesani, who kept his eyes closed during the court proceedings, would prepare an injection of pethidine and she would inject herself.
She would then perform oral sex while he sat in a chair.
Marchesani would ejaculate into his hands, she told the court.
The witness also told the court how she and another woman, who had earlier given evidence against Marchesani, had performed oral sex on him simultaneously.
The trial before judge Ian Robertson is continuing.