Texas jury convicts doctor of sexually assaulting patient

DALLAS (AP) — A Texas doctor accused of sexually assaulting multiple patients was sentenced Friday to 10 years in prison after being found guilty of assaulting a woman seeking physical disability.

Donald Ozumba, 45, was found guilty Friday of aggravated sexual assault of an elderly person in a trial that Collin County prosecutors said was one of the most egregious they have ever seen involving the victimization of patient went through a doctor.

The verdict came after almost ten hours of deliberations. The Collin County jury deliberated for about two and a half hours before reaching its verdict. Ozumba’s lawyer has asked the jury to give the doctor a suspended sentence, while prosecutors have asked for a 45-year prison sentence. The jury could have sentenced Ozumba to life in prison.

There are six other cases of sexual assault pending against the Nigerian-born doctor, in which investigators say there was a pattern of abuse.

Investigators say a pattern emerged since at least 2015 in which Ozumba gave a woman a steroid injection in the pelvic area and then used his hands to massage the affected area before attacking her, according to Texas Medical Board records.

The agency, which accuses Ozumba of sexually abusing nine patients and engaging in inappropriate sexual conduct with four others, alleges that he also sent sexually suggestive text messages to some patients and “upset” one woman.

His defense attorneys suggested that Ozumba’s hand deformity may have been responsible for the accidental contact.

The medical board revoked Ozumba’s license to practice medicine within a week of his arrest in 2017, an immediate move in a profession that often takes a more lenient approach. An Associated Press investigation earlier this year found that punishment for doctors who face such allegations often includes a short suspension and mandatory therapy.

Because of his felony conviction, he will be barred from practicing medicine in the future. He must also register as a sex offender.

In the trial heard this week northeast of Dallas, the victim testified that she was being treated for a physical disability at a McKinney clinic in 2016 when Ozumba illegally touched her with his finger and repeatedly penetrated her. The woman, who is in her 70s, said she froze, abruptly left the office and later contacted police after speaking to her husband.

Three other women said they, too, were sexually abused by Ozumba under the guise of medical treatment, the Dallas Morning News reported.

Ozumba’s lawyer, Toby Shook, said there was insufficient evidence to convict. He said the victim misremembered the incident.

“I don’t think she has an accurate memory of what happened,” Shook told jurors during the trial, according to the newspaper.

Similar allegations have recently been made against other doctors, including imprisoned former sports doctor Larry Nassar. He was sentenced to decades in prison in Michigan earlier this year after hundreds of women and girls accused him of abusing them under the guise of medical treatment. Nassar is now facing charges in Texas.

A former doctor accused of sexually abusing patients was convicted in Missouri this week but has yet to face other charges. And several students have sued Ohio State University over alleged sexual misconduct by a now-deceased team doctor.

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