An emergency doctor who said “some women deserve to be raped” and shared offensive images and comments online while revealing his identity has been suspended by Australia’s health practitioner watchdog.

In April Dr Christopher Kwan Chen Lee was suspended by the Tasmanian health practitioners tribunal for six weeks after he admitted to posting a series of sexist and racist remarks online, including one that said “some women deserve to be raped”.

Lee previously worked in Tasmania, but in 2018 he began work at Box Hill hospital in Victoria. However, Guardian Australia revealed his offensive remarks went far beyond those considered by the tribunal, and included sharing images of dead bodies, videos of fatal car crashes, and sexually explicit photos of his wife.

Doctor who called for women to be raped to be investigated over dozens more posts Read more

Lee’s initial suspension was due to expire on 11 June. But on Friday the Medical Board of Australia suspended him for an undetermined period.

“The board has taken this action in the public interest to maintain confidence in the medical profession,” it said in a statement. “The board will not be making any further comment in relation to Dr Lee at this time.”

In May the Australian health practitioner regulation agency launched a fresh investigation into Lee after Guardian Australia reported that he also had shared patients’ medical records, including x-rays of the chest of a four-year-old girl suffering from pneumonia and an x-ray of a broken arm.

When forum users warned him that he may lose his job for sharing the images, Lee responded it was “perfectly OK” to post them because nothing in the images revealed his patients’ identities.

In a post made to an online forum about a tsunami that hit Indonesia in September, killing hundreds, Lee wrote: “Don’t bother helping that nation of ingrates.” In a separate post he wrote: “Singaporean women are some of the most materialistic, pampered and self-entitled women you are likely to meet anywhere.” He described Chinese women as “calculating, ruthless animals”. He took revenge on a woman who criticised him online by posting her explicit photos on the internet, forcing her to close down her online accounts. “A new legion of perverts” would be viewing her images, Lee wrote, “I won.”

In other posts he insisted his online persona matched his real life persona, even posting photographs of his passport and medical degree to prove his identity, and one of himself wearing a stethoscope. When people criticised him, Lee replied, “Malaysian and Australian authorities can’t touch me for things I say on a Singaporean forum.”