A Sydney dentist who sexually abused three young women under the “ruse” of “skin checks” and “massages” has been jailed for at least three years after a judge branded him “evil”.
Maged Fouad Farag on Friday afternoon stood inside Sydney’s Downing Centre District Court as he was taken away by Corrective Services officers after being jailed for his abuse of three young women, who were aged between 19 and 25, over five years.
Judge John Pickering described how the 62-year-old used his position as a successful dental surgeon, who operated a clinic in southern Sydney, to earn the trust of the three women and used the “ruse” of skin checks and massage to convince them to take off their clothes and sexually touch them.
In 2024, one woman, who cannot be named or identified, walked into Sydney City Police Stations to come forward after she was abused by Farag.
The court was told that he took naked photos of the woman after telling her he needed to carry out a “skin check”.
He told the woman that she needed to take her underwear off because: “I need to look through it all and you need to lose your bra and undies as well.”
“Of course he was not doing a skin check, he was, as part of his deviancy… getting some form of sexual satisfaction by taking photographs of her,” Judge Pickering said in his sentencing remarks on Friday afternoon.
On a later occasion he again asked the woman to undress, and touched her breasts, inner thigh and genitalia, and sucked on her nipple, the court was told.
According to a statement of agreed facts, while he abused her, he told the woman “I feel like you are getting shy now” and “you need to be more comfortable, there is no need to be shy in front of me, because you have already been naked in front of me”
She reported the matter to police the following day.
Two further women he had abused years earlier came forward following media reports on Farag’s arrest and court proceedings.
“(The second victim) came forward, (the third victim) came forward – where he must have thought he got away with those matters, because they had not complained like so many victims of sexual assault, he learned that he wasn’t going to get away with them,” Judge Pickering said.
“Because they read the article, realised something similar had happened to them and (one of the women’s) courage provided them with courage.”
Earlier this year, Farag pleaded guilty to five counts of sexual touching relating to his three victims.
Last week, he sat in court as he was confronted by one of his victims who said through a stream of tears: “There are still days when I feel emotionally frozen.
“Nothing prepares you for something like this.”
The court was told that, during a “massage”, Farag touched one woman on the inner thigh and genitalia.
When she asked why he was touching her there, he said words to the effect of: “one of the most important (pressure points) is inside the vagina”.
The court was told that he twice sexually touched another woman during two separate “skin checks”.
He convinced the woman to remove her underwear before he touched her breasts.
On a separate occasion he touched her thigh, causing her to “freeze”, before he moved his hand up and touched her genitalia for approximately 10-15 seconds, the court was told.
“In the world with these three victims, to be quite frank, he was evil,” Judge Pickering said.
Judge Pickering took into account his expressions of contrition and remorse, and he was given a 25 per cent discount on his sentence for his early guilty plea.
Farag was sentenced to a maximum of five years and two months.
He will be eligible for release on parole in October 2029 after serving a minimum term of three years and two months.
“Corrective services can take the offender into custody,” Judge Pickering said.
Steve ZemekCourt reporter