Last updated at 12:01 07 July 2007

A therapist has been accused of taking advantage of a patient with a split personality - using one of her alter egos for sex, another to be his cleaner and a third to lend him cash for holidays.

When confronted by his alleged victim he refused to comment, saying he had a duty of confidentiality to her other personalities.

The German woman, Monika Mirte, 44, had gone to qualified psychotherapist Peter Blaeker, 43, after she was diagnosed with multiple personality disorder. Much of

the time Miss Mirte was in control, but sometimes she became her other personalities, "Kathrin", "Finja" and "Leonie".

She alleges that Blaeker used his knowledge of her condition to use her for sex, housework and loans. If convicted he faces up to five years in jail.

Miss Mirte said: "It is like there is more than one person in my head and when one of the others is in control, I always have no memory of what happened when I return.

"I found out there were certain personalities he favoured, and he used them to fulfil his wishes.

"He used Kathrin for sex and Finja to do the shopping and pay for it, while Leonie gave him money to travel on holidays to Mallorca and Sylt (a popular German tourist island)."

It is unclear how Miss Mirte became suspicious about her "treatment" but she eventually confronted Blaeker.

She claims the therapist told her he would not discuss the matter because he had a duty of confidentiality to his patients, including her other personalities.

Miss Mirte later gave details to police which are being studied by prosecutors in Cologne.

Spokesman Dr Gunther Feld said they were considering charges of sexual abuse under duress. They were also investigating possible fraud.

Miss Mirte's lawyer, Christine Andrae, said: "So far there are numerous leads to show that the therapist made use of my client's weakness."

Blaeker has refused to comment while the case is being investigated.

Psychologist Dr Christian Luedke said: "It is a unique case but it is possible.

"If you know a person has multiple personalities, you can deal with the personality you want by calling that person by name until they take control.

"You can then replace them with another personality by calling the next personality by name."