A Detroit-area doctor recorded nude women and children with hidden cameras in private places such as hospitals, bathrooms and the changing area at a swim club over a period of at least six years, law enforcement officials in Michigan said this week.
The activities that led to charges against Dr. Oumair Aejaz, an internal medicine doctor, were reported to the authorities by his wife, Sheriff Michael J. Bouchard of Oakland County said.
Dr. Aejaz, 40, was arrested on Aug. 8 at his home in Rochester Hills, Mich., and charged with 10 felonies, including one count of child sexually abusive activity, four counts of capturing or distributing images of an unclothed person and five counts of using a computer to commit a crime, according to the sheriff’s office and court records. Each count carries a maximum sentence of at least five years in prison and up to 20 years, according to court records.
“This is one of the most disturbing sexual predator cases I have seen in my very long career,” Sheriff Bouchard said in a statement. “From a 2-year-old boy to grown women, no one is immune from his disgusting predatory behavior.”
The charges stem from videos that Dr. Aejaz took at a children’s swim club called Goldfish Swim School in Rochester, Mich., about 25 miles north of Detroit. There, according to officials, he placed a camera to look into a changing room with adults and children.
Marriel Lehman, a lawyer representing Dr. Aejaz, did not immediately respond to an email and phone call requesting comment on Thursday.
The police do not think that employees at the Goldfish Swim School were aware of the camera placement, and Sheriff Bouchard said that the swim school has been “super cooperative” in the investigation. Goldfish Swim School did not immediately respond to an email requesting comment on Thursday.
Sheriff Bouchard said on Tuesday that the current charges are only the “tip of the iceberg.” He added that Dr. Aejaz had also placed cameras in hospital rooms, inside closets, and in bathrooms and bedrooms. Those instances are still under investigation.
“It’s hard to look at the videos of that activity where a woman is basically unconscious in a hospital bed, and he’s violating her,” he said of one episode.
Dr. Aejaz is accused of getting into patient rooms by using his position as a contracted physician at several facilities in the Detroit area, including at Ascension Genesys Hospital in Grand Blanc Township and at Henry Ford Macomb Hospital in Clinton Township, Sheriff Bouchard said. The hospitals have been cooperating with the investigation, he added.
“We are aware of the serious and concerning allegations against a physician who has medical privileges, but is not employed by Ascension Genesys,” a spokesman for the medical center said in a statement. “We take these allegations very seriously and have removed all of the physician’s access to our facilities.”
A spokesman for Henry Ford Health, the health system of which Henry Ford Macomb Hospital is part, said that their organization is “shocked by these allegations,” and added that “this individual has never been an employee of Henry Ford Health but had privileges at several area hospitals, including Henry Ford Macomb Hospital.”
The detectives from the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office confiscated six computers, four cellphones and 15 external hard drives from Dr. Aejaz’s home, their statement said. One of the hard drives had more than 13,000 videos, although it is not clear how many could be criminal in nature and the content could take six months to review, Sheriff Bouchard said at the news conference.
Dr. Aejaz, who was arrested shortly after his wife went to the police with information, has two children, Sheriff Bouchard said Tuesday. Dr. Aejaz had no criminal history or “any other complaints” before the authorities began their investigation earlier this month, he added. The wife’s lawyer confirmed a divorce case is pending in an email to The New York Times on Thursday.
“There are thousands and thousands of images and videos that we will have to work, law enforcement in partnership with others, to identify who those victims are,” Karen D. McDonald, the Oakland County prosecutor, said on Tuesday.
Dr. Aejaz is being held at the Oakland County Jail on a $2 million bond. The sheriff’s office is asking people with information that could be helpful to their investigation to contact detectives.