Los Angeles dentist, 50, is charged with 'sexually assaulting nine female patients aged 27 to 73' while they were undergoing procedures

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Dentist Emad Fathy Moawad is accused of sexually molesting nine women over the course of five years while they were undergoing procedures at his office 

A Los Angeles dentist has been accused of sexually abusing nine women while they were undergoing procedures.  

Emad Fathy Moawad, 50, was charged on Monday with more than a dozen counts of sexual battery by restraint and other acts involving force.

Moawad appeared in court Monday but didn't enter a plea and his arraignment was continued. He was jailed on nearly $2million bail and it wasn't immediately clear whether he had an attorney to speak on his behalf.

'This case is especially concerning because its victims are low-income people and immigrants who are less likely to report crimes due to fear,' Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón said in a statement.

Prosecutors allege that between 2013 and 2018, Moawad molested at least nine women ranging from 27 to 73 years old.

In 2019, a woman sued Moawad and his LA dental office alleging that he molested her while undergoing procedures there in 2017, and again when she returned in 2018.  

In 2019 one of the victims sued Moawad and his office, the Alegria Dental Center, in Los Angeles alleging that he repeatedly groped her

According to the suit, the woman initially went to Moawad's office at the Alegria Dental Center in Los Angeles in October 2017 for an x-ray and deep cleaning, and while she was being examined she alleges he brushed up against her breast, but was unsure if it was intentional. 

Later that month she returned to the office to undergo another deep cleaning under local anesthesia in preparation to have veneers installed.

During the coarse of the procedure the woman alleges Moawad repeatedly reached down her shirt and touched her breasts. 

The woman said she yelled at him to stop, and brought her complaint to a staff member, who she claims replied: 'We know but can’t do anything about it.'

The next month, she returned to get the veneers installed and the procedure went without incident. 

She returned to the office in August 2018 after her veneers became loose and painful and getting estimates from other dentists. At that time she allegedly told Moawad to fix the veneers or she would sue him for sexual battery.  

Later that month the woman returned to undergo a procedure in which Moawad would remove her front four teeth.

According to the suit, the woman demanded she be only given general anesthesia for the procedure out of fear Moawad would molest her while she was unconscious.

While he was removing her teeth, however, the woman alleges Moawad forcibly groped her, reaching his hand into her underwear and touching her vagina.

When she began to protest, the woman alleges he held her down before she ran out of the room with blood on her face and clothes, screaming for help.

The staff, she alleges, told her to be quiet as to not disturb other patients. 

The woman said she believes an employee recorded video of one of the alleged assaults in December 2018 and brought an end to the alleged attacks.

Criminal charges against Moawad came after a lengthy investigation by LAPD sex crimes detectives, the LA Times reported.