Parole for N.L. doctor who traded drugs for sex

A St. John's doctor jailed for trading drugs for sex has been granted day parole after spending more than two years in prison.

Sean Buckingham, 49, was sentenced in 2008 to seven years in prisonafter being convictedof numerous charges of sexual assault and trafficking.

Buckingham traded prescription drugs containing oxycodone, the painkillerin Oxycontin and Percocet, for sex. One of his victims testified he tied her to a tree and sexually assaulted her.

According to a National Parole Board document, Buckingham was granted day parole Thursdayfor six months at a halfway house in Newfoundland.

He received day parole with numerous conditions. He mustcontinue psychiatric treatmentfor his bipolar condition and is prohibited from drinking alcohol or visiting a bar.

A recent psychological assessmentfoundBuckinghham's risk of again committing sexual offences to be in the moderate-to-high range, the parole board said.

"Along with any interruption in your medication regime, the psychologist noted a return to your manic lifestyle, adopting negative attitudes that legitimize inappropriate sexual behaviour towards women and/or a return to associating with negative peers, may render your risk unmanageable," the document said.

The document alsoaddressed what Buckingham said at his parole hearing.

"You admitted to abusing your position of trust by sexually abusing your victims in exchange for drugs," the report said. "You explained that you sexually assaulted your victims to cope with your depressed state of having a low self-esteem."

Less than a month ago, Buckingham's licence to practise medicine in Newfoundland and Labrador was revoked by the province's College of Physician and Surgeons, and his name struck from the medical registry.

He is now at theminimum security Westmoreland Institution in Dorcester, N.B., waiting for a bed at a halfway house in Newfoundland and Labrador. He iseligible to apply for full parole on May 12.