Prominent South Bay doctor convicted of sexual assault gets 2 years

[AnotherGreenWorld]

Dr. Mahendra Udani, a prominent South Bay physician convicted of sexually assaulting two female patients, was sentenced to two years in custody today.
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GuiltyUdani
Newport Beach, CA

Dr. Udani is scum. We know him from our community and he's a very shady individual. This happened to him before in Illinois and it happened again because they weren't strict with the punishment then. He's done NOTHING for society and most of his wealth comes from questionnable insurance billing. Would you send your daughter to this pervert?

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http://www.topix.com/city/redondo-beach-ca/2007/05/prominent-south-bay-doctor-convicted-of-sexual-assault-gets-2-years
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So a doctor sexually assaults multiple patients and gets a mere two years in jail? Unreal.

[liberalnurse]

1. More important is how the AMA

has dealt with this pervert. Does he still have a license to practice medicine?

[Hepburn]

2. If he is licensed in Calif, it would be the Cal Medical Board....

...that deals with whether or not he is licensed. The AMA is merely an advisory group and has nothing to do with licensing to practice.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

6. Oh, he'll never legally practice medicine again.

I'm sure of that.

[AnotherGreenWorld]

7. I hope you're right.

But what's sad is that he was sexually assaulting women at least as far back as 1987.

"The 1987 incident involved an allegation Udani forced a pancreatitis patient to orally copulate him. Udani settled a legal claim by paying that woman $75,000, and was placed on probation by the Medical Board." (http://www.dailybreeze.com/news/articles/6763631.html?showAll=y&c=y)

:mad:

A slap on the wrist. And he continued to practice medicine for 20 years after that. Who knows how many women he's sexually assaulted. What a scumbag. :mad:

He should be doing serious time, not a mere 2-7 years.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

8. Ah, settled out of court.

Not sure if I disagree with the decision to put him on probation for it.

And 2 years is a serious time to be in prison. Not sure if I disagree with that either.

[AnotherGreenWorld]

10. "Udani forced a pancreatitis patient to orally copulate him..."

You think it was right that he was able to practice medicine 20 years after that? We know what happened: he continued to sexually assault his female patients.

He should've got at least 10 years for that alone.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

13. Then they shouldn't have settled out of court.

A settlement is not an admission of guilt.

[shenmue]

3. Okay, what's wrong with the judge?

Why doesn't this kind of shit carry a minimum 10-20+ years' sentence?

:grr:

[Hepburn]

4. The charges were filed ....

...from what I read....as misdemenor sexual offenses and therefore the judge could only go with sentencing guidelines as to misdemeanors. Because of that, a 10 - 20 year sentence would not be appropriate. It was the DA who decided to file on misdemeanor charges, or so it appears. There is nothing the judge could do about that.

On edit...I read more and found the following:

The doctor was jailed pending sentencing and he is looking at a possible 7 years. That would be correct IMO is the misdemeanor sentences are deemed to be served consecutively. Misdeameanors in Calif are a max of one year in jail. That is what separates them from felony charges.

[AnotherGreenWorld]

5. Here's more information...

Dr. Mahendra Udani was found guilty on eight counts each of sexual battery and sexual exploitation by a doctor and two counts of simple battery for groping two female patients in his Redondo Beach office and Torrance hospitals in November and December 2004.

...

While the verdicts relate to two then-22-year-old patients, the jury also heard evidence about similar allegations against Udani by two other women, dating back to 1987.

One woman described nine incidents of being groped by Udani at his Redondo Beach office and at Little Company of Mary Hospital in Torrance and Torrance Memorial Medical Center.

Another 22-year-old woman testified during the weeklong trial that Udani rubbed and caressed her breasts during her only visit to his office for an ulcer on Dec. 8, 2004.

She told her stepmother she felt confused about the exam when she left that day, but did not report him to the state Medical Board until she saw an article about Udani in the Daily Breeze.

...

The 1987 incident involved an allegation Udani forced a pancreatitis patient to orally copulate him. Udani settled a legal claim by paying that woman $75,000, and was placed on probation by the Medical Board.

...

Udani said he does not remember the second woman. He maintains that any touching was a part of the exam.

...

"It's a sad reality that it takes a criminal conviction to prove that a doctor's sexual perversion does not take precedence over his patients' rights and well-being," said Chris Frost, a private attorney who also tried the case.

Della Thompson-Bell, a Torrance city prosecutor, said Udani has never taken responsibility, and the jury did not believe his lies.

Michael Buttita, a senior investigator for the state Medical Board, said he will immediately file paperwork with the state Attorney General's Office asking that Udani lose his medical license.

"The system finally caught up with Dr. Udani," Buttita said.

...

Kay said it's always hard proving a case against doctors. "People don't want to believe a doctor does anything wrong," he said.

Kay noted that another alleged victim came forward a couple of weeks ago, after the trial started, and told a police officer Udani had done the same to her.

"He was dangerous with all he was doing," Kay said. "You just know that there are women out there who haven't reported it because they're too embarrassed."


http://www.dailybreeze.com/news/articles/6763631.html?showAll=y&c=y

[kurth]

9. This asshole needs to rot in jail

[AnotherGreenWorld]

11. for the rest of his life...

And he should've been in jail since 1987.

[Katherine Brengle]

12. If anything, a doctor should get MORE jail time for sexual assault.

Due to the nature of the job, the vulnerability of the patients, it should carry a much harsher penalty.

[AnotherGreenWorld]

14. Agreed.

And something really should've been done 20 years ago when it was first known that he was sexually assaulting women.