A Detroit-area doctor has been accused of using concealed cameras to surreptitiously film women and children at the hospital where he worked for six years, a case that authorities say demonstrates his “depravity had no limits.”
Dr. Oumair Aejaz, 40, filmed infants as young as two years old and ladies recovering from surgery in various hospital rooms, according to an Oakland County Sheriff’s Office news release. According to the allegations, he spied on people in hospital changing rooms, closets, restrooms, and bedrooms, as well as a nearby swim club.
He was charged with ten charges, including one case of sexual abuse of a child, one count of using a computer to generate and/or replicate child sexual abuse material, and four counts of photographing or recording minors under the age of 18 and two women naked. His bail was set at $2 million.
“This is one of the most disturbing sexual predator cases I have seen in my very long career,” Sheriff Michael Bouchard said at a press conference on Thursday. “He violates everyone he can. From a two-year-old kid to an adult woman, no one is safe from his horrible predatory conduct.”
The number of victims is unknown “because there are so many of them,” he explained.
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Bouchard went further: “At the end of this case, it is my fervent hope that he is held fully accountable behind bars.”
During the news conference, Oakland County Prosecutor Karen D. McDonald stated, “These are children and mothers at a swim school. They were exploited by a trusted member of the community, a medical practitioner.”
Aejaz held privileges at both Henry Ford Macomb Hospital in Clinton Township and Ascension Genesys Hospital in Grand Blanc Township. Both hospitals are helping with the inquiry.
“We are surprised and take these claims extremely seriously. “This individual has never worked for Henry Ford Health but has had privileges at several area hospitals, including Henry Ford Macomb Hospital,” Henry Ford Macomb Hospital stated in a statement.
“The safety of our patients and team members is our top priority and we have taken immediate action to prevent him from practicing at our health system,” according to a statement.
In an emailed comment, an Ascension spokeswoman stated that the organization was aware of “the serious and concerning allegations against a physician who has medical privileges, but is not employed by Ascension Genesys.”
“We take these claims extremely seriously and have denied all of the physicians access to our facilities. The health and safety of our patients and associates are of the highest concern to us, and we are fully collaborating with authorities in their inquiry,” the statement read.
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Sheriff’s detectives received a report concerning Aejaz’s activity on August 7 and searched his residence the following day, taking six laptops, four smartphones, and 15 external storage devices.
Only one computer contains 13,000 recordings dating back six years, and police anticipate it will take at least six months to thoroughly review all of the confiscated devices.
According to NBC station WDIV in Detroit, Aejaz’s wife provided the tipoff.
Police claimed Aejaz is from India and was working in the United States on a visa after arriving in 2011. He is an internal medicine expert who finished his residency at Detroit Sinai Grace Hospital before moving to Dawson, Alabama. He returned to Oakland County in 2018.
Bouchard stated that the scope of the probe would extend beyond Genesee and Macomb counties, where Aejaz operated, to other states and potentially nations.
Anyone who suspects they may have been a victim should notify the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office at [email protected].