Dentist and former deputy mayor Andrew Istephan admits assaulting elderly patients

Andrew Istephan Photo: Dean Sewell

Former Hurstville deputy mayor and dentist Andrew Istephan engaged in the "deliberate, callous and systematic exploitation" of elderly people by performing unnecessary surgery for extra money.

Now Istephan has pleaded guilty to further assault charges relating to major dental procedures on Sydney nursing home residents.

In the Downing Centre District Court on Wednesday, Istephan pleaded guilty to three charges of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

Prosecutors accepted those pleas and dropped four other charges against him.

Istephan, a former Liberal councillor, was convicted of five assault charges at trial in 2013, but a jury could not agree on a verdict for the seven remaining counts. He was due to face re-trial on those charges this month.

At Istephan's trial, the jury heard he began filing down patients' teeth within minutes of meeting them at nursing homes in the inner-west in 2011.

Some of the procedures were not consented to and, in some cases, were not necessary.

Istephan conducted surgery on patients under the Commonwealth-funded Chronic Disease Dental Scheme.

He was contracted by a company called Elderlink, which provided dental and other services to elderly people

The then 34-year-old was sentenced to a two-year intensive correction order, with Judge David Frearson saying Istephan had engaged in the "deliberate, callous and systematic exploitation of the residents with the view of financial reward".

Motivated by greed, Istephan had been "arrogantly dismissive" of the fundamental human right for bodily integrity, the judge said.

"The frail and elderly have a right to be treated with dignity and respect," he said.

"It's wholly reprehensible to exploit the elderly for financial gain."

Istephan will face a sentence hearing in December.

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Dentist and former deputy mayor Andrew Istephan admits assaulting elderly patients