Woman who sued therapist for sexual assault wins £217,000 in damages

A woman who claimed she was raped by a therapist who said penetration could help ease her trauma, has been awarded more than £200,000 in damages in a high court ruling after she sued him over the alleged assaults.

- Diane Taylor, Hannah Al-Othman

Ella Janneh, 37, a victim of childhood sexual abuse, who waived her right to anonymity, brought a claim against Michael Lousada, described as a "self-styled psychosexual Somatics practitioner", over a therapy session involving sexual penetration at his clinic in Belsize Park, London, in August 2016.

Lawyers for Janneh, told the court she suffered a panic attack during the session and "did not consent to the sexual acts".

Lousada, who had been an internationally renowned sex therapist and had appeared as a guest on the TV show This Morning, denied the allegations, claiming that the sexual activity was consensual and part of "legitimate" therapeutic activity.

Janneh reported the alleged rape to police after it happened and told a friend "I think I just got raped". But in 2018, the CPS decided not to proceed with a criminal prosecution, so Janneh launched a civil claim against Lousada for personal injury and negligence.

Criminal and civil cases require different standards of proof, criminal prosecutions requiring the higher standard of "beyond reasonable doubt", while civil cases are based on "the balance of probabilities".