The Riga District Court has found Dr Jevgēnijs Ņikiforenko guilty of sexual assault against several patients and sentenced him to 13 years in prison, LSM.lv and Latvian Television report on June 3.
He was also placed on probation for five years and banned from practising medicine for seven years, the Rīga District Court announced on Wednesday while reading the summary of the verdict.
Ņikiforenko is the first known doctor in Latvia to be accused of sexual abuse against several patients. The origins of the case date back nearly 20 years, when the first victims began reaching out to one another online. The police closed their case. Now a second case has reached the trial court – a case that might not exist if journalists had not brought this matter to light.
The immunologist has been charged with sexual acts committed for the purpose of satisfying his sexual desire through physical contact with the victim’s body, if such acts were committed against the victim’s will by taking advantage of her trust or by using violence, and for satisfying his sexual desire in an unnatural manner involving vaginal penetration of the victim’s body against her will, by exploiting her trust.
In the criminal proceedings, five of the doctor’s patients were recognised as victims requiring special protection; together, they had filed claims for compensation for moral damages totalling 14,000 euros.
The defendant did not admit guilt for the criminal offences with which he was charged, nor did he acknowledge the claims for compensation for moral damages filed by the victims or the compensation paid to the victims by the state. The defendant provided testimony only during the court investigation, continuing to deny his guilt.
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