Groping dentist will lose license

[Liberal_in_LA]

Groping dentist will lose license
Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer

Friday, January 29, 2010


(01-29) 11:57 PST SAN JOSE --

A San Jose dentist will lose his license to practice after being sentenced to nearly a year in county jail for groping seven female patients, including a girl who was 14 at the time, authorities said today.

Benva Lazar, 57, must register as a sex offender after he is released, which will cost him his dental license, said Amy Cornell, spokeswoman for Santa Clara County District Attorney Dolores Carr. He must also undergo psychiatric treatment, Cornell said.

Lazar was arrested Aug. 10 after the girl told police he had fondled her breasts. Lazar ultimately pleaded no contest to sexual battery by fraud, a felony, and was sentenced to 90 days in jail.

That arrest happened three months after Lazar entered no-contest pleas to six misdemeanor counts of battery for groping adult patients. For those cases, Lazar was sentenced to 270 days in jail, which he will serve consecutively with his latest term, plus 250 hours of community service.

A 23-year-old patient said Lazar had touched her breasts at his Cahalan Avenue office after telling her he was screening for cancer. Lazar told police he was checking patients' lymph nodes and telling them about the importance of mammograms.


Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/01/29/BAU21BPL3N.DTL&tsp=1#ixzz0e2E2xHn4