2 Dentists Accused in Separate Sexual Assaults of Patients

Amid a recent spate of alleged sexual assaults by dentists, a Suffolk County, NY dentist has been charged with groping a female patient’s breasts during an exam, authorities said.

According to a news release from the Suffolk County Police Department, the dentist, Aziz Khan, DDS, was conducting an exam of a female patient on Sept. 12 when he began to touch her breast. The patient attempted to push his hand away, but Dr. Khan, 65, persisted, eventually squeezing her other breast.

After a verbal confrontation, Dr. Khan stopped, authorities said. Detectives later responded to his office, where he was arrested and charged with forcible touching. Dr. Khan was released on bail and scheduled for a Jan. 10 arraignment, the news release said.

The Meriden Record-Journal of Meriden, CT also reports an alleged sexual assault involving a different dentist. Jeffrey Krhaling, DDS, has been accused in two other alleged sexual assaults of patients, with the most recent accusations pertaining to an incident in May 2015. The alleged assault was reported to authorities on Sept. 16, 2016, the report says. According to the news report, the 27-year-old woman making allegations pertaining to the May assault alleges that she awoke from sedation to find Dr. Krhaling, 51, touching her inappropriately.

The allegations against Dr. Krhaling are similar to those leveled against a Washington, DC-area dentist whose indictment made national headlines last month. Bilal Ahmed, DDS, was indicted last month on charges of sexually assaulting 3 male patients while they were incapacitated by nitrous oxide. Additionally, Dr. Ahmed, 44, is accused of assaulting a former employee.