A Danish doctor is claiming that he took naked photographs of anorexia patients and forced them to use sex toys in an attempt to make them feel better about their bodies.

The 50 year-old physician, who specialises in treating people with eating disorders at Rigshospitalet in Osterbro, has told a court that the methodology used on at least five women was part of his ‘alternative treatment’.

“Anorexic patients, generally speaking, have a hard time accepting how they look naked. That’s why I took a number of photographs of genitalia to get them adjusted to seeing them,” he said, according to metroXpress newspaper.

Talking about how he made one patient use a sex toy in front of him, the doctor told the court, “It was to help her. She was having a hard time with her sexuality and with her genitalia. It was to get her to feel better about her body.”

Police found more than 600 nude photographs on the doctor’s computer, which he claims were either already on the hard drive when he salvaged the machine from the street, or that they were deposited there by a virus without his knowledge. He also tried to discredit one of the girls who testified against him, claiming: “She’s saying it to get attention. She has previously cut herself as a form of self-abuse.”

Three of the patients claim they were forced to sign contracts allowing the doctor to take naked pictures of them. According to metroXpress, one girl told the court, “I just wanted to be healthy so I did what he said.”

The 50 year-old denies sexual abuse and the case is ongoing.