Rape in the clinic: new allegations against chief physician

In the case of the assistant doctor who raped around 30 women at a Bielefeld clinic, there are new allegations against a chief doctor – this is the result of research by the ARD political magazine Contrasts.

The evangelical Bethel Clinic in Bielefeld was the scene of a serial rapist. Assistant doctor Phillip G. is said to have drugged around 30 patients here in 2019 and 2020 and raped them – sometimes several times. The doctor filmed his actions.

As early as September 2019, the first patient filed a complaint for dangerous bodily harm caused by inadmissible medication. At the time, she knew nothing about the rapes. Police officers then search the suspect’s apartment and find narcotics, a hard drive with numerous rape videos and a list of names. In September 2020, Phillip G. was arrested and committed suicide while in custody.

Investigations closed – victims not informed

The public prosecutor’s office in Bielefeld then stopped the investigation. Most of the women affected are not informed that they have been raped. Even though they’re entitled to it and the case isn’t over. It is still unclear to this day whether those responsible at the clinic, including a chief physician, did not sufficiently investigate the crimes.

The Bielefeld public prosecutor’s office has also closed investigations against those responsible for the clinic for allegations of aiding and abetting rape through omission. The attempt by two lawyers to get the higher-level public prosecutor’s office in Hamm to continue the investigation failed.

Justice Department mistrusts Attorney General’s Office

In November 2021, the Ministry of Justice in Düsseldorf intervened and instructed: The investigations into those responsible for the clinic must be resumed. This time the ministry commissioned the public prosecutor’s office in Duisburg, 170 kilometers from Bielefeld – a highly unusual process.

Unusually clear is also the justification that the ministry is now making public for the first time ARD political magazine contrasts states: “In an overall view, the responsible specialist department came to the concern of a possible bias on the part of the Hamm general public prosecutor’s office. Therefore, the Duisburg public prosecutor’s office should be commissioned with an authority that has not yet dealt with the matter in order to ensure an unbiased examination.”

Criminologist Christian Pfeiffer considers the decision not to inform the women initially to be outrageous: “It wasn’t to protect victims, it was to protect hospitals.” Women’s rights “were thoroughly disregarded in the interest of the clinic and perhaps also in the interest of the prosecutor for protecting herself from work”. Pfeiffer, former Justice Minister of Lower Saxony, thinks the intervention of the North Rhine-Westphalia Ministry of Justice is right: “If such serious mistakes happen, then the only option is the path that the Ministry of Justice has taken there,” he explains contrasts.

Chief physician is said to have received information at an early stage

Almost all of the approximately 30 women have now been informed that they have been victims of a sex crime. So did Anja S. (name changed), who was also a patient in Bethel in February 2019 and was drugged and raped there. She remembers waking up in the night and Philipp G. was sitting by her bed. She believes she was injected with something and passed out immediately. Later she was very tired and hardly responsive and had vomited and had kidney pain and chills.

Her father reports contraststhat he immediately contacted the chief physician responsible and described his daughter’s condition to him: “He just said to me: Don’t worry, everything’s okay, she’s in good hands.” At the request of contrasts not commented on this.

Clinic: Will to work up

The Bethel Clinic, on the other hand, shared contrasts in April 2021, upon request, that it was only in September 2019 that a patient informed us for the first time about the suspicion that the resident doctor had administered the wrong medication. The clinic does not want to comment on the new allegations and states that “the will to work through and to help the victims” continues to apply comprehensively.

Anja S. may be one of the first victims of Philipp G. After this first report from her father, it gives way contrasts-Research on at least three similar-sounding references to clinic staff, submitted by patients.

Rumors are said to have circulated among the nursing staff that the resident was administering infusions that had not been ordered. An employee writes about this contrasts: “On the corridor radio with other nurses, I heard that the chief physician had said to the staff: We have to protect the clinic and the young neurologist, who does not obstruct the future, because he also takes on so many night shifts and relieves us.” The chief physician also agreed to this at the request of contrasts not voiced.

Victims’ attorney calls for charges

“The new findings prove that the chief physician was informed, that the clinic staff was informed, that the medical profession was informed,” says victim lawyer Stefanie Höke in relation to indications of irregularities. She now represents several affected women. And it becomes clear: “Accordingly, we go so far as to say that you have clearly covered for the assistant doctor here, so that the criminal proceedings here must at least end in an indictment, if not lead to a conviction.” Shortly after the perpetrator’s suicide, the chief physician stated to the “Neue Westfälische” newspaper that Phillip G. had deceived him and all his colleagues and abused their trust.