INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
from Texas, who was convicted of raping a sedated patient in a hospital, will not serve prison time and, instead, will spend 10 years of
probation.Jurors convicted Shafeeq Sheikh, 46, a former physician at the Baylor College of Medicine, of second-degree sexual assault after a
trial that ended this past week.The crime is punishable by up 20 years in prison, but the Texas jury sentenced Sheikh to 10 years of
probation on Friday.Sheikh will have to register as a sex offender
Unlike most states and the federal government, Texas grants juries the power to set criminal punishments.The punishment has surprised
defense attorneys, disappointed law enforcement and raised concerns from a victims advocacy group, according to media reports.The jurors had
recommended the sentencing, to which visiting Senior District Judge Terry L Flenniken was required to follow by law, according to local
media report.Sheikh was working in night shift at Houston's Ben Taub Hospital in 2013 when a woman was admitted for shortness of breath
assaulted her.The woman said she attempted to get help from a nurse, but the call button would not work.DNA evidence collected from a rape
kit matched the DNA sample of the guilty doctor's cheek swab
But it took two years for charges to be filed against Sheikh.Surveillance video also captured Sheikh on the floor where the woman's room
He used his badge to swipe onto her floor at least 12 times that night
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.During the trial, the doctor
admitted to the sexual contact with the woman, but insisted it was consensual.awyers also pleaded with the jury to show some compassion to
doctor, were shattered by his conduct
They are serving his sentence with him
She told KHOU11 in 2015 that she believed there are other victims.
