After an eight-day test, a federal judge returned its conviction for a primary care physician accused of groping four female soldiers during regular tests at a , VA , health facility, according to federal prosecutors.
Rajesh Motibhai Patel, 69, of , Lilburn, Georgia, was  , convicted of two charges , relating to one woman, and acquitted of charges relating to the other three patients, the , U. S.  , Attorney ‘s , Office for the Northern District of Georgia , said in a , Nov. 7 , news release.
The jury found Patel, who worked at the , VA , core in , Decatur, innocent of violating a patient’s legal right to bodily integrity while acting under colour of law and for engaging in unnecessary sexual phone, prosecutors said.
“VA workers are tasked with providing care for our country’s veterans.” Acts of violence against veterans in , VA , facilities are reprehensible and shatters that trust” , , Michael J. Missal, the inspector general of the , VA, said in a statement.
One of Patel’s security attorneys, Manubir S. Arora, told , McClatchy News , in an emailed statement on , Nov. 7 , that” we are really disappointed in the verdict”.
Arora claimed that the test “was very complicated and took place over the course of two days” and that the trial’s test “was very lengthy.”
In , May 2023, Patel was  , indicted on some counts , in connection with charges that he sexually assaulted four people between 2019 and 2020, according to prosecutors.
According to the prosecution,” He incorrectly touched their pelvic area and groped their chests.”
When Patel was indicted, authorities suspected there were more people who might’ve been abused, the , U. S , Attorney’s Office said in an earlier media release.
In the midst of the , charges against Patel, he was removed from his place at , Joseph Maxwell Cleland Atlanta Veterans Affairs Medical Center , in 2023, the , Marine Corps Times , reported.
Patel’s punishment hearing is set for , Feb. 20, according to prosecutors.
” We are weighing our elegance choices at this time”, Arora told , McClatchy News.
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