A gynaecologist from Nigeria has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for raping and fondling women who came to his clinics for treatment.
Superior Court Judge Michael Trickey on Monday sentenced Charles Momah to nearly three months after a jury convicted him on two counts of rape and two counts of indecent liberties with patients. The standard sentencing range was 17 to 23 years.
Prosecutors said that Momah performed gynaecological exams without wearing gloves, sexually touched patients, probed them unnecessarily with a vaginal ultrasound wand and flirted with them inappropriately.
The obstetrician-gynaecologist prescribed addictive painkillers for no good medical reason, pressured patients into surgeries and double-billed insurance companies for procedures, prosecutors said.
By June 2004, 44 women had filed lawsuits against him.
"They will be sleeping with both eyes closed for the first time in so many years," said lawyer Harish Bharti, who represents dozens of women in civil lawsuits against Momah and his twin, who allegedly sometimes pretended to be the gynaecologist.
"My clients lived in fear under his reign of terror for years," he said.
Momah grew up in Nigeria and trained in Nigeria and Canada.
In 1993, after working in New York and Georgia, Momah moved to Washington state. The three clinics he operated are now closed.