The first reaction of the psychologist Ion Duvac, accused of sexual harassment of patients. Invokes a “smear campaign”

Ion Duvac, member of the Commission of Deontology and Discipline of the Romanian College of Psychologists, rejects the accusations of sexual harassment and claims that he is the victim of a “campaign of denigration”. PressOne wrote that Duvac is accused of sexually harassing patients, making explicit sexual advances and asking for pictures of their private parts from the very first session. The publication obtained a recording of a session from the psychologist's office.

• The College of Psychologists announces that it has self-reported. The institution states that the language reported in the investigation is “incompatible with the Code of Ethics” and may be subject to disciplinary action.

In a public statement sent on Tuesday and signed together with his lawyer, Ion Duvac rejects the accusations and claims that the investigation would represent “a smear campaign”. He states that he would have expressed his intention to run for president of the College of Psychologists and suggests that the publication of the investigation would be related to this endeavour.

In the same statement, Duvac does not answer the questions sent by PressOne, notes the editors.

According to the Regulation on internal organization and functioning and the Methodology for holding elections in the College, the elected representatives in the management forums can exercise a maximum of two consecutive full mandates.

According to his CV, Ion Duvac has been a member of the Ethics and Discipline Commission since 2017 and is completing his second consecutive term this year. Under these conditions, he no longer has the right to run for a new mandate in the management of the College in this year's elections, according to the cited source.

The college self-reported after the investigation

Before publishing the investigation, PressOne also sought a view from the College of Psychologists. After the publication of the article, the institution communicated that “so far, there are no reports, complaints or disciplinary violations registered” on behalf of Ion Duvac.

However, the Ethics and Discipline Commission self-reported and convened an emergency meeting, without the participation of Ion Duvac. In the submitted opinion, the College of Psychologists specifies that “the use of language such as that quoted in the article is incompatible with the Code of Ethics” and that requesting images of the intimate areas of patients “may constitute disciplinary misconduct”.

The institution also states that the sanctions provided for by law are: reprimand, warning, temporary suspension, for 6-12 months, of the right to practice freely or definitive withdrawal of the certificate.

According to PressOne, the editorial office contacted Ion Duvac by phone three times before the publication of the investigation, and at his request also sent him the questions in writing.

The publication also writes that there was a telephone discussion of about 30 minutes, in which Duvac allegedly tried to convince the editors to postpone the publication of the article. During the conversation, he allegedly said he was in a “crisis situation” that “he generated, not the PressOne newsroom.”

After the appearance of the investigation, the Capital Police notified itself ex officio and announced that it had started checks “in order to establish the factual situation and to order the necessary legal measures”. The police call on people who believe they have been victims of such behavior to file a complaint.