A former Atlanta Veterans Affairs Medical Center doctor found guilty last year of groping a female patient will spend two years in federal prison, after which he will be banned from practicing medicine for 15 years, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Dr. Rajesh Motibhai Patel, 69, of Lilburn, was convicted in November of violating a patient’s constitutional right to bodily integrity while acting under color of law and for engaging in unwanted sexual contact, the justice department said. He groped his accuser during exams between 2019 and 2020.
He had previously been indicted on charges of sexually assaulting four of his female patients during routine exams but was acquitted of charges related to three victims.
“Dr. Patel violated the cardinal rule of a physician to do no harm to patients under his care,” U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan said in a statement. “Veterans who consulted him for treatment, like the victim in this case, trusted Dr. Patel, and he violated that trust.”
“His conviction hopefully provides a measure of healing for those impacted by his crimes,” Buchanan added.
Patel had been a primary care physician at the VA medical center in Decatur since 2015. His sentence was handed down by a federal judge Thursday. There is no parole in the federal prison system, so Patel will serve his entire two-year sentence in confinement.
“As soon as (the) VA learned of these allegations (in 2023), we removed this clinician from patient care pending the results of the investigation. He was then fired in February (2024)‚” a spokesperson said in an email to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution after Patel’s conviction.
In a separate statement, Michael J. Missal, inspector general for the VA, said employees “are entrusted with keeping our nation’s veterans safe while receiving care.“
He added: “Acts of violence against veterans in VA facilities are reprehensible and shatters that trust. We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to hold anyone who would commit these crimes accountable.”
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