A GP has been jailed after being found guilty of a string of indecent assaults against seven female patients . Dr Stephen Cox, 65, was sentenced to 22 years’ imprisonment at Reading Crown Court after a judge said he was the “worst kind of sexual predator” who had hidden “in plain sight” as a family doctor. Cox, from Stockton Mill, Welshpool, Shropshire, repeatedly indecently assaulted seven of his female patients on the pretext of carrying out routine medical examinations, between 1988 and 1997.
Judge Sarah Campbell said Cox selected female victims who he believed were less likely to complain because of their age or background, adding that several were pregnant or had come out of abusive relationships. On Friday, Cox was found guilty of 12 counts of indecent assault and acquitted of a further four, after a four-week retrial. During the trial, the jury heard that Cox touched parts of patients’ bodies during examinations at his surgery in Bracknell, Berkshire, despite there being no medical reason to do so.
Police fear there is a possibility Cox has committed other offences during his career, which included practising in the Ouse Valley in Sussex. As well as getting patients to undress unnecessarily, he touched their breasts, pressed his body against them, and carried out internal examinations when they were not needed or without using gloves. The offences took place before the use of computerised healthcare records, which meant the police investigation revolved aro.