A Tasmanian GP has been banned from practising medicine for four years after being convicted of possessing child exploitation material.
Luke Hamilton, 49, was found with hundreds of exploitative images on a password-protected hard drive during a police search of his home in September 2021.
The files included 14 showing children under 13-years-old, along with more than 400 images of minors under 18-years-old.
Hamilton told authorities he had tried twice to get rid of the hard drive before his arrest but couldn’t find it. Documents show police discovered it in a drawer beside his bed.
He admitted to downloading large batches of files, some of which included younger subjects he claimed were of no interest to him, but said he never deleted them.
The Tasmanian Civil and Administrative Tribunal heard Hamilton had viewed the “grossly inappropriate” content since the late 1990s and had downloaded the material for around a decade from the early 2000s.
A senior tribunal member described the conduct as “particularly serious” and said it warranted considerable professional consequences.
“It is my firm view that the respondent’s conduct is sufficiently serious to render him unfit to practice medicine and to remain a medical practitioner,” the ruling stated.
In February 2022, Hamilton pleaded guilty to one count of possessing child exploitation material and received a four-month suspended prison sentence.
The Medical Board of Australia pushed for a seven-year disqualification, while Hamilton’s legal team argued for just six months, noting he had already been suspended since October 2021.
In its final decision, the tribunal cancelled his registration, banned him from reapplying for four years and prohibited him from providing any health services or using the title “Doctor” until re-registered.
Hamilton reportedly left Tasmania after being unable to find work following his arrest and now works interstate as a builder’s labourer.
