London, July 30 A 34-year-old Indian-origin doctor, who claimed to be a massage specialist from India and sexually assaulted one of his patients in 2020, has been jailed for 18 months in England.
Simon Abraham from Eastbourne, East Sussex, was found guilty of sexual assault on a female patient after a trial lasting four days at Chichester Crown Court this month, Sussex Police said.
In addition to 18 months in prison, nine months custodial and nine months on licence, he will be placed on the sex offenders' register for ten years and is subject to a five year restraining order to protect the victim from contact by him.
The court heard that Abraham, who worked at Eastbourne District General Hospital, contacted the woman in October 2020 after she had been treated for severe headaches.
He claimed that he had a call from a colleague, who was concerned about her condition and stated that he had been trained in specialist massage in India for two years.
She agreed to his visit, but during the massage he sexually assaulted her, and left only when a visitor came to the house.
When he continued to phone her, she contacted the hospital, who advised her that they would investigate, but she should also contact police.
After his arrest, Abraham initially denied ever having visited her house, but upon further questioning, he admitted to the visit while denying any sexual misconduct.
"Abraham took advantage of the victim's pain, fraudulently accessing her patient details even though he wasn't officially treating her, and then visiting her when he finished work, claiming that he could massage her headache away," Detective Constable Jo Gledhill said in a statement released by Sussex Police.
"When he was arrested, he denied that it happened at all, but then asked for a further interview, where he admitted going to her house, but did not sexually touch her," Gledhill said, adding that they take "reports of this nature very seriously".
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