PHILIPSBURG:--- The Joint Court of Justice has convicted a ZYTO practitioner, Fernando Clark on three counts of sexual assault committed during professional consultations. The conviction follows an earlier acquittal by the Court of First Instance, against which the Prosecutor’s Office filed an appeal.
The Court found that Fernando Clark engaged in non-consensual sexual acts with clients while acting in his capacity as a practitioner. In doing so, he abused the position of trust inherent in the therapeutic relationship.
The Court also applied the concept of “linking evidence” (schakelbewijs), meaning that the separate complaints were not assessed in isolation but in relation to one another. Because the accounts showed strong similarities in the nature of the conduct and the circumstances under which it occurred, the Court considered each incident as supporting evidence for the others. In this way, the consistency across the different reports helped establish the facts.
Fernando Clark was sentenced to a six-month prison term, fully suspended, with a three-year probation period. In addition, the Court imposed a 120-hour community service sentence (with 60 days' imprisonment if not completed) and disqualified him from practicing his profession for a period of three years.
In its judgment, the Court emphasized the seriousness of the offenses, noting that the acts occurred in a professional setting where clients should feel safe and protected. By crossing those boundaries, the defendant violated the physical integrity of the victims and undermined trust in professional care providers.
The Prosecutor’s Office considers it of great importance that individuals in positions of trust are held accountable when that trust is abused. Cases such as this underline the need to safeguard professional integrity and protect clients from misconduct.
