Doctor guilty of raping heavily sedated patient in hospital gets no prison time

A 12-person jury in Texas found Shafeeq Sheikh, a former physician at Baylor College of Medicine, guilty of raping a heavily sedated patient. The jury recommended that Sheikh receive no prison time, and state law compelled the judge to comply.

From Fox News:

DNA evidence was collected from a rape kit - but it took two years for charges to be filed against Sheikh. The DNA collected from the former doctor's cheek swab match those in a rape kit.

Surveillance video also captured Sheikh on the floor where the woman's room was located. He used his badge to swipe onto her floor at least 12 times that night.

"He sought her out. He chose her to prey on," Assistant District Attorney Lauren Reeder said during Friday's sentencing. "You know he's the type of man who would go in multiple times, testing the waters, seeing how far he could go and get back to his normal business after that."

"You know he's the kind man of who walked around for two years before he was charged with this" knowing what he did," she added.

In court, Sheikh insisted that the sex had been consensual. Sheikh's lawyer Stanley Schneider told the jury it should feel sorry for Sheikh: "The dreams of a man, the childhood dream to become a doctor, were shattered by his conduct. He destroyed his own dreams. What he has done to himself and his family is punishment. They are serving his sentence with him. His children are serving his sentence with him."