A yoga instructor and osteopath who practiced in northern New South Wales has had her registration acted on by the state’s osteopathy regulator after being charged with producing child abuse material and animal sexual abuse offenses, authorities said.
According to Ballina News Daily, Stina Wangqvist, 48, a Lennox Head osteopath and yoga teacher, was arrested during a police raid on a Lennox Head property and appeared from custody before a bail court hearing, where she was granted strict conditional bail. Court documents cited in the same report show she has been charged with producing child abuse material, committing animal sexual abuse, and possessing animal sexual abuse material.
A second person, Brunswick Heads man Tore Milazzo, 47, faces nine charges, according to Ballina News Daily, including producing child abuse material, possessing child abuse material, committing animal sexual abuse, attempting to commit animal sexual abuse, sexually touching an animal, producing animal sexual touching material, two counts of possessing a prohibited drug, and failing to comply with approved firearm storage requirements. During a court hearing, it was alleged that Milazzo “used his own dog for sexual gratification,” according to The Mirror.
The two are being prosecuted together because, according to AOL, the alleged offenses stem from the same police operation.
Both were released on bail under stringent conditions. According to Ballina News Daily, Wangqvist’s conditions include daily reporting to Ballina Police Station between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. As a dual citizen, she was ordered to surrender her passport, is prohibited from leaving Australia, must reside at an approved address, and is banned from using social media. Milazzo, according to the same outlet, is barred from contacting Wangqvist except through a lawyer, prohibited from contacting prosecution witnesses, restricted to a single mobile phone service and SIM card, and required to provide police with the phone’s password, service details, and IMEI number.
In a statement reported by the Daily Mail and republished by AOL, the Osteopathy Council of New South Wales said any public conditions placed on a practitioner’s registration as a result of a complaint are listed on the Register of Practitioners on the Ahpra website, and that it monitors those conditions to ensure they are met. The council added that, according to the same statement, it has the power to take urgent regulatory action to suspend or place conditions on a practitioner’s registration when it considers there is an unacceptable risk to public health and safety or that doing so is in the public interest.
According to Ballina News Daily, the matter was adjourned to the Ballina Local Court, where Wangqvist is due to return on Aug. 20 for a brief status-committal mention, while Milazzo is due to appear before the Byron Bay Local Court on Aug. 3.
The charges have not been tested in court, and both defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
