North Las Vegas doctor sentenced for kissing, groping patients
A North Las Vegas doctor who pleaded guilty to three counts of open and gross lewdness involving patients was sentenced Thursday to three years of probation and seven days of incarceration — one day for each of his victims, the judge said.
During the jail time, Clark County District Judge Richard Scotti ordered the doctor, Jorge Burgos, to “reflect, each day, about what you did to each of these women.”
After the decision, criminal defense attorney Crane Pomerantz asked the judge if the doctor could serve those seven days over the course of the next three weekends, so as not to interfere with his medical practice. The judge agreed.
Several relatives and coworkers were present in the courtroom to support Burgos, but the decision drew ire from at least 11 handcuffed defendants seated in the same room for separate cases, several of whom scoffed when the judge allowed the seven days time to be separated over weekends.
“This is some (expletive),” one of them said. A bailiff next to the defendants hissed at them to “shut up.”
The doctor — who was arrested in September 2016, then again in October 2016 when more victims came forward — will have to register as a sex offender, complete a sex-offender treatment program, take a four-hour online course on victim empathy and attend at least 30 therapy sessions. Should he violate his probation, he faces a prison sentence of three years.
It’s not clear if the case will affect his ability to practice medicine.
Lewdness with patients
Burgos originally faced 16 counts of open and gross lewdness, but 13 were dropped as part of a plea agreement.
Victims told police the doctor kissed and touched them inappropriately during physical examinations at his office, according to his arrest reports.
One woman said she asked Burgos for a dermatologist referral because she had moles she needed checked on both her back and chest. She offered to show him pictures, but Burgos instead lifted up the front of her shirt, lifted up her bra, then touched his mouth to one of her breasts, the report said.
“She told him he needed to stop doing that and he responded, ‘Are you going to get me in trouble?’” the report continued. The woman reported him to police that day.
Defense describes ‘good man’
In court on Thursday, the doctor’s defense attorney said that Burgos’ error was “not that he is an incorrigible sex offender, your honor, but that he failed to appreciate that as a physician he held a position of authority over the women he had contact with.”
“He is a good man who engaged in conduct that’s out of line with his character,” Pomerantz said. “This event, this series of events, have caused Dr. Burgos great shame.”
The attorney said the fallout from the case had cost the doctor anywhere from 55 to 70 percent of his business.
“More than anything, Dr. Burgos wants to treat his remaining patients, and they need him,” he said.
No victims were present at the sentencing, but in a statement read aloud, Burgos offered his “sincere and humble apology,” first to “the women who came forward,” then to the court and his friends and family.
In the courthouse lobby after the judge’s decision, Burgos smiled and hugged the 15 relatives and co-workers. He offered no comment.
Since his first arrest, the doctor’s medical license has been listed as active with no restrictions, according to the Nevada State Board of Medical Examiners website.
As of Thursday afternoon, no changes had been made.
The board’s executive director, Edward Cousineau, did not respond to a request for comment.
Contact Rachel Crosby at rcrosby@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-8135. Follow @rachelacrosby on Twitter.
