Hospital Security Guard Who Allegedly Posed As Doctor To Get Sex Pleads Not Guilty
REDWOOD CITY (CBS SF) -- A Redwood City hospital security supervisor accused of sexually assaulting women he solicited for jobs by posing as a doctor pleaded not guilty to sexual assault and battery charges Wednesday, prosecutors said.
Garry Chow, 33, was arraigned Wednesday morning on charges of sexual penetration under professional pretenses, sexual battery and attempted sexual battery for two incidents in September when he allegedly lured women to the parking garage at Sequoia Hospital in Redwood City and tried to give them physical examinations.
Chow remains free on bail but his license to be a security guard was revoked, San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said.
Both assaults happened on Sept. 10, when Chow asked two women who responded to a Craigslist posting for modeling jobs to meet him in the parking garage for a physical examination.
Posing as a doctor, he even created a false nametag, calling himself "Dr. Chen," Wagstaffe said.
He told the victims the hospital was too busy to conduct the exam there and led them to a utility room.
The first woman to respond to the ad, a 23-year-old Vallejo woman, went through with the exam. Chow allegedly groped her breast and then tried to penetrate her with his fingers, at which point she became suspicious and decided to leave.
Chow allegedly asked her for $200 for the exam, but she refused. He then told her he would forgive the fee if she had sex with him, Wagstaffe said. She again refused and left.
The second woman, an 18-year-old Santa Cruz woman, arrived at 3 p.m., about two hours after the first woman. When Chow took her to the utility room, she immediately became suspicious and called the police.
About two weeks later, police talked to the first woman and determined that both women were assaulted by the same suspect. Investigators identified the man as Chow, according to police.
He was arrested at his Modesto home on Oct. 13. Police said they found evidence inside linking him to the assaults.
Chow appeared in court this morning with a with a retained attorney, James Dunn, who said he has not received initial evidence form the prosecution so was unable to comment on the case in detail.
"There's more than one side to this story. We're at the very beginning of this process and I'm hopeful that everything will be cleared up by the end of it," Dunn said.
Chow is scheduled to return to court for a preliminary hearing on the charges on March 7. He remains out of custody on $150,000 bail, prosecutors said.
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