Doctor who drugged and sexually assaulted patients unrepentant
Marty Sharpe09:25, Feb 04 2022
John Cowpland/Stuff
David Lim at sentencing in Napier in 2017. (File photo)
A former doctor who sexually assaulted four young male patients has been declined parole for what is likely to be the last time, and continues to deny the offending.
David Kang Huat Lim was declined parole by the Parole Board in late January.
Lim, 46, was sentenced to five years jail in 2017 after a jury found her guilty of five charges of disabling or stupefying and five charges of indecent assault on a male over 16.
Employed as a doctor at a Hastings clinic, Lim dosed four men with a sedative then sexually assaulted them by rubbing their genitals.
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Since entering prison, Lim has begun transitioning from male to female and now identifies as female.
Lim’s sentence expires on June 1, but she has been eligible for parole since February 2019.
This is the fourth time she has been denied parole.
John Cowpland/Stuff
David Lim worked as a doctor at The Doctors clinic in Hastings. (File photo)
Lim, who waived her right to appear before the board, is a Malaysian national and is subject to a deportation order.
A parole assessment said Lim had not been involved in any incidents or misconducts, but due to her continued denial she had not completed any offence-focused treatment.
The board said it could not be satisfied that Lim did not pose an undue risk, so parole was declined.
Once Lim is released from prison she will be in the hands of Immigration New Zealand, which may keep her in custody until she is deported.
The Board said that If Lim could not be deported immediately, and if she was not held in custody, she would be subject to numerous conditions including electronic monitoring, and she would not be permitted to enter Hawke’s Bay or Auckland.
Once deported she would not be able to return to New Zealand.
Born in Malaysia and trained in Scotland, Lim came to New Zealand in 2006 to work in Hawke's Bay Hospital. Lim spent three years as a registrar at the hospital, before working fulltime at The Doctors clinic in Hastings.
In 2018, the Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal stripped Lim of a licence to practise in New Zealand, censuring her and ordering Lim to pay $4380 in costs.
Lim was served a deportation notice in December 2017. It is usual practice to deport people only after any prison sentence has been completed.
