Texas doctor found guilty of raping sedated patient. He won’t serve any prison time
The Houston police chief said it is “beyond troubling” that a Texas doctor will not be going to prison after a jury found him guilty of raping a heavily-sedated hospital patient.
Chief Art Acevedo was referring to Shafeeq Sheikh, the former doctor who allegedly raped a patient in her hospital room in 2013 and was only sentenced to 10 years of probation last week, according to BuzzFeed News.
“A hideous crime is committed in a hospital room which should be a sanctuary for patients,” Acevedo tweeted. “So many new norms that run contrary to what we’ve always stood for, I pray no accountability for harming people isn’t one of them.”
That punishment also surprised defense attorneys, the Houston Chronicle reported.
“When you’re a doctor, I’d expect you’d get prison time,” attorney Casey Kiernan told the newspaper. “We hold doctors to a higher standard.”
But after a 14-hour deliberation over two days, the 12-person jury did not recommend that Sheikh spend any time behind bars. The jury was made up of five women and seven men, according to the newspaper.
“After being presented all the evidence, the jury convicted this man of rape and decided that he should be sentenced to 10 years of probation,” Dane Schiller, a district attorney spokesman, told the Chronicle. “The jury voted on behalf of the community to determine his sentence, and although prosecutors sought prison time, we respect this process, and the jury’s decision...”
The jury did find the doctor guilty of raping a Ben Taub hospital patient in November 2013, KTRK reported.
Sheikh was working a night shift at the Houston hospital when the female patient, identified only as Laura, was staying overnight because she was struggling to breathe, Fox reported. During that November night, Sheikh allegedly assaulted the patient several times in her hospital room.
The woman was heavily sedated when she was assaulted, KRTK reported off of court documents.
During the trial, the now 32-year-old victim said she tried to call a nurse during the first assault, but the button didn’t work and he came back two more times to rape her without a condom, the Chronicle reported. Witnesses testified that the call button had been unplugged.
“He abuses his authority, uses his power, easily enters and without thinking twice takes control over someone who is sick,” Laura told KHOU in 2015.
The former doctor, though, testified that he thought it was consensual sex.
“He testified that the patient grabbed his hand during a chest exam in the early morning hours and placed it on her breast,” the Chronicle reported. He also said it was consensual sex based off of her body language that night.
Sheikh testified that the woman had touched his penis and he “took it as a sign that she wanted to have sex.”
After the assault, the woman reported that she was taken advantage of, according to KHOU.
It took a two-year investigation before Sheikh was arrested, BuzzFeed reported.
“He made a mistake, but he didn’t sexually assault her,” attorney Lisa Andrews said during the trial, according to the Chronicle. “Here we have this Latina woman with her fake boobs that came onto that little nerdy middle-aged guy, and he lost his mind.”
Prosecutor Lauren Reeder said that statement was “ridiculous” and asked the jury to remember patients are vulnerable, BuzzFeed reported.
Sheikh’s lawyers asked the jurors to show compassion to the former doctor and his family, Fox reported.
“What he has done to himself and his family is punishment,” lawyer Stanley Schneider said, according to Fox. “They are serving his sentence with him. His children are serving his sentence with him.”
Sheikh lost his medical license and was fired from the hospital in 2014, KTRK reported. He will also have to register as a sex offender for life.
This story was originally published August 19, 2018 at 3:14 PM with the headline "Texas doctor found guilty of raping sedated patient. He won’t serve any prison time."