A well-known East London paediatrician will know next month whether he will face sexual assault charges.
The 64-year-old doctor who cannot be named as he has not yet pleaded was arrested last month for allegedly fondling the private parts of his patients’ mothers during consultations in his Beacon Bay practice.
The paediatrician made his second court appearance in the East London Magistrate’s Court yesterday.
But his fate rests with the director of public prosecutions in Grahamstown who will decide whether to pursue the charges and take him to trial next month for sexual assault.
The state has lined up at least three witnesses to testify against the doctor.
Should the case go to trial and he be found guilty, the paediatrician could lose his medical practising licence for unethical conduct.
He was arrested by members of the East London Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit.
Police spokesman Captain Nkosikho Mzuku said cases against the doctor had been opened at the Beacon Bay police station on May 28.
He was arrested and appeared in court on June 8 and was released on R5000 bail.
Police have not ruled the possibility of more complainants coming forward.
The complainants are two mothers aged 23 and 26 who had visited the practice with their minor children.
The mothers also cannot be named because of the nature of the alleged crime and to protect their children.
According to the charge sheet, the Beacon Bay-based paediatrician faces two counts of sexual assaults.
The doctor cut a lonely figure in the public gallery yesterday.
The prosecutor asked for the case to be postponed to August 7 for the DPP’s decision. The magistrate extended bail and warned the doctor to appear again on August 7. — zwangam@dispatch.co.za
East London paediatrician may be up on assault rap
The 64-year-old doctor who cannot be named as he has not yet pleaded was arrested last month for allegedly fondling the private parts of his patients’ mothers during consultations in his Beacon Bay practice.
The paediatrician made his second court appearance in the East London Magistrate’s Court yesterday.
But his fate rests with the director of public prosecutions in Grahamstown who will decide whether to pursue the charges and take him to trial next month for sexual assault.
The state has lined up at least three witnesses to testify against the doctor.
Should the case go to trial and he be found guilty, the paediatrician could lose his medical practising licence for unethical conduct.
He was arrested by members of the East London Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit.
Police spokesman Captain Nkosikho Mzuku said cases against the doctor had been opened at the Beacon Bay police station on May 28.
He was arrested and appeared in court on June 8 and was released on R5000 bail.
Police have not ruled the possibility of more complainants coming forward.
The complainants are two mothers aged 23 and 26 who had visited the practice with their minor children.
The mothers also cannot be named because of the nature of the alleged crime and to protect their children.
According to the charge sheet, the Beacon Bay-based paediatrician faces two counts of sexual assaults.
The doctor cut a lonely figure in the public gallery yesterday.
The prosecutor asked for the case to be postponed to August 7 for the DPP’s decision. The magistrate extended bail and warned the doctor to appear again on August 7. — zwangam@dispatch.co.za
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