A Berkshire doctor has been jailed for 22 years after being found guilty of a string of indecent assaults.
Dr Stephen Cox, 65, was jailed at Reading Crown Court for 22 years after the crimes against seven female patients.
He was found guilty on 14 counts, and not guilty on four.
During the trial, the jury heard that he touched parts of patients’ bodies during examinations at his surgery in Bracknell, Berkshire, despite there being no medical reason to do so.
As well as getting patients to undress unnecessarily, he touched their breasts, pressed his body against them, and carried out internal examinations when they were not needed or without using gloves, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said.
The offences took place before the use of computerised healthcare records, which meant the police investigation revolved around handwritten GP notes.
The indecent assaults were not reported at the time, and victims came forward once a police investigation opened into Cox, the CPS said.
Cox claimed he did not remember any of the patients and denied the allegations, saying it was either a misunderstanding, an accident, or that his victims were not telling the truth.
Lawyer Chris White, for the CPS, said: ‘The medical expert who we put forward to give evidence during the trial confirmed that there was no medical justification for Stephen Cox’s actions.
‘His behaviour was clearly sexually motivated, and he used his position to take advantage of his patients when they should have been able to trust him.
‘With no witnesses to the assaults, it was the strength of all the victims’ accounts, which showed a similar pattern in Cox’s behaviour, that helped secure his conviction.
‘We would like to thank them for coming forward and we hope today’s sentence gives them some sense of closure.’
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