IVF doctor cleared of sex charge

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/england/7778100.stm

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A fertility doctor has been cleared of sexually assaulting one his long-term female IVF patients.

Dr Edwin Onugha, 60, of Woodclose, Redhill, was found not guilty of sexual aassault by the jury at Guildford Crown Court following a three-day trial.

The woman, who cannot be named, claimed she was indecently touched by Dr Onugha at a clinic in Redhill, Surrey, in September 2007.

Dr Onugha told the court he brushed against her, but not in a sexual way.

Following the accusation he was suspended from working at Surrey and Sussex Fertility Centre, at East Surrey Hospital.

Internal examination

During the trial Dr Onugha told the court the way he touched the woman "did not amount to groping, certainly not in the sexual sense".

The obstetrics and gynaecology doctor said his patient seemed flustered when she left his surgery, but he did not know why until they spoke on the telephone.

The woman, who had been a patient of Dr Onugha for nine years, had claimed he carried out an internal examination which left her feeling degraded and embarrassed, hugged her and then touched her as she attempted to leave the clinic.

Asked how the accusation had affected him, he told the court he saw his "entire career flash before him" for something he had not done.

The jury was told some patients called him Edwin - or Uncle Edwin - and it was not unusual for him to hug a patient during an appointment.