Fake gynaecologist 'tricks women into undergoing vaginal exams'

Fake gynaecologist ‘tricks dozens of Italian women into undergoing vaginal exams over webcam’

• The man, 40 has been arrested in Bari after allegedly trying to dupe 400 women 
• He targeted women who had recently undergone tests and video called them
• The fake doctor asked them to undress on camera for an exam, police said 

A suspected sexual predator posed as a gynaecologist to trick hundreds of Italian women to undergo vaginal exams online, Italian police have said.

The 40-year-old was arrested today in Bari, southern Italy, and his house was raided.

Several smartphones and memory cards were seized after police wiretapped his calls following complaints from multiple victims.  

A serial sexual predator posed as a gynaecologist to trick hundreds of Italian women to undergo vaginal exams online, Italian police have said

The man allegedly targeted women who had undergone swabs at clinics across the country.

He then told them they had been diagnosed with ‘several vaginal infections’ and asked for them to undress for him, the police said in a statement.

‘He then persuaded them to undergo an online gynaecological exam,’ police said, adding that ‘over 400 women throughout Italy’ had been targeted, from Lazio to Lombardia and Calabria.

‘He introduced himself as a doctor. He knew my date and place of birth and asked me if I had done a gynaecological check-up in recent months,’ the Repubblica daily quoted one victim as saying.

‘He asked increasingly personal questions… then requested a video call via Zoom or Hangout… (and) asked me to show my private parts to confirm the diagnosis,’ said the woman, referred to just as ‘Lucia’.

A 24-year-old woman from Salento first reported the alleged abuse when she posted on Instagram about being called by a man who introduced himself as a gynaecologist.

Several smartphones and memory cards were seized after police wiretapped his calls following complaints from multiple victims

The man knew her personal and health data and arranged a video appointment during which he asked her to undress and show herself on camera.

She stopped before undressing after noticing something unusual, but many other victims willingly followed his orders, police said. 

He allegedly his his home number when making the calls and seemed to have knowledge of the victims’ recent clinical tests in health facilities throughout Italy.

During the video chats, he asked increasingly intimate questions before asking them to carry out a vaginal examination. 

The investigation into the abuse is ongoing, police said.

In the same city of Bari, a doctor was arrested this month after he was caught half-naked in a hotel room with a female ‘patient’ offering to cure her illness by having sex with her.

Dr. Giovanni Miniello, 60, who called his penis the ‘magic flute,’ was arrested on suspicion of sexual assault against two women.

The gynaecologist was the target of an undercover sting by a TV show after one of his patients told producers how he had offered to ‘decontaminate’ her of the human papillomavirus (HPV) – despite her testing negative for the infection.

Investigative news programme ‘Le Lene’ sent an actress who secretly filmed herself undergoing an examination, receiving the same diagnosis and agreeing to meet Miniello in a hotel room.

Footage showed the doctor calling his penis the ‘magic flute’ and the ‘Padre Pio of penises’. Padre Pio was a 20th century priest renowned for healing.

Dr. Giovanni Miniello, 60, a gynaecologist in the southern city of Bari, was caught after undercover actress went to be treated for HPV

Footage showed the doctor calling his penis the ‘magic flute’ and the ‘Padre Pio of penises’. Padre Pio was a 20th century priest renowned for healing 

But before he thought he was about to have sex with her, a journalist came into the room and surprised the half-naked doctor, who reportedly said: ‘I’m doing this for my studies — and for the other people that I have saved’

She asked Miniello about wearing protection but he told her it was pointless as she would not then receive the antibodies that he claimed protected him from HPV.

As he lay down on the bed, a reporter entered the room to challenge him on his methods and he not only repeated the claim, but took his phone out to ring former patients he said he had cured.

He was arrested and placed under house arrest in relation to the two incidents, dating back to September 2019 and June 2021. 

Miniello’s methods came to light after Anna Maria, 33, got in contact with La Repubblica newspaper and later La Iene TV show.

She had consulted the gynaecologist about being unable to get pregnant, and he told the woman she had signs of HPV, despite a negative Pap smear test.

Dr. Giovanni Miniello

‘I have saved many women from cancer. All those I have had contact with were negative afterwards,’ he reportedly told her.

She decided to contact La Repubblica, alleging that Miniello had touched her breasts inappropriately and told her he liked women with small breasts.

When she contacted him for the results of the test, she said she was shocked when he proposed having sex with her to cure her.

The woman then reached out to the investigative news program ‘Le lene,’ which hired an actress to portray a patient.

Minello told her that she had ‘white spots’ on her cervix, which indicated the presence of HPV. He then offered to have sex with her.

Minello also claimed that having sex with somebody like him who had been vaccinated would give her immunity, and he offered to see if he could immunise her by having sex with her.

The undercover actress then agreed to meet him in a hotel, where he again assured her as he undressed that afterwards she would be free from the virus.

While there, when she asked about protection, he told her that it was pointless as she would not then get the benefit of the antibodies if he had a condom on. 

But before he thought he was about to have sex with her, a journalist came into the room and surprised the half-naked doctor, who reportedly said: ‘I’m doing this for my studies — and for the other people that I have saved.’

Despite the smear test showing all negative results for HPV, the actress was still told she had the virus

Through his lawyer, Miniello said: ‘I, who have successfully treated hundreds of women for over 40 years … only proposed an alternative treatment that has yielded results,’ adding that he never forced women to have sex with him.

As a result of the TV investigation, 15 other women have come forward and claimed they were also victims of the doctor and his miracle sex cure.

Marika Massara, the coordinator for the Anti-Violence Centre in Bari, said: ‘We have received several reports in the last few days, dozens. Women who have come together and gone through a similar situation.

‘Some consider reporting it, others are afraid, also because the level of secondary victimisation we are witnessing is very high.’

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