Doctor Charged With Child Sex Abuse Suspended
LANSING (WWJ/AP) - A state medical panel has issued a two-year suspension for a doctor awaiting trial on charges of committing sex crimes against young girls.
The Disciplinary Subcommittee of the Board of Medicine imposed the penalty Wednesday against 54-year-old Kassem Hallak of Holt.
Eaton County authorities have charged him with 11 counts of criminal sexual conduct, and he's free on $250,000 bond while awaiting trial.
The charges in this case involve girls ages 12 and 14 and a high school student.
The earliest accusation is from 2003 when Hallak practiced at the Eaton Rapids Medical Center. A 14-year-old girl told police Hallak spanked and kneaded her buttocks. Another girl said Hallak was giving her a physical at school when he grabbed her crotch.
In a separate case, a woman said Hallak pinned her legs to an exam table, assaulted her, and tried to kiss her as she sought treatment for back pain at the Charlotte Medical Center and Urgent Care in 2010.
Defense lawyer Elias Muawad told the Lansing State Journal that he's declining comment because of the pending criminal case.
Hallak, a native of Romania, has been ordered to surrender his Canadian passport and any other passport or document that would enable him to leave the country.
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