Doctor Contracted to Adventist Hospital in Maryland Accused of Raping Young Girl for Nearly 20 Years
22 March 2018 | Virendra Saxena, an intensive care unit physician at Adventist HealthCare Shady Grove Medical Center in Rockville, Maryland, has been accused by law enforcement of raping a young girl for nearly 20 years.
Court documents showed that the 60-year-old doctor was contracted with the Adventist hospital. According to local ABC television affiliate WJLA, Saxena has worked at the hospital for 20 years and has practiced medicine for 35 years.
Earlier today a Montgomery County grand jury indicted Saxena with four counts of second-degree rape, two counts of sex abuse of a minor, two counts of second-degree sex offense and one count of third degree sex offense. If guilty, Saxena could be given 180 years in prison.
Law enforcement claims that Saxena used pencils, pens, a hairbrush and his fingers to sexually assault the alleged female victim. He is accused of often having done so while looking at pornography. WJLA reported that the alleged victim remembered “crying and screaming” during the assaults which are said to have taken place between 1987 and 2004. Police say the alleged victim was not a patient of Saxena’s and that the abuse did not take place at a medical facility.
Shady Grove’s parent organization, Adventist HealthCare, said that Saxena worked for the facility as a contracted physician, caring exclusively for adult patients. He is no longer treating patients due to the pending criminal case.
The physician posted a $500,000 bond and was released from Montgomery County custody on March 2. A date has not yet been set for a trial.
Saxena has retained criminal defense attorney Andrew Jezic. The attorney has extensive experience defending people accused of sexually related crimes in the state.
In an email to WJLA, Jezic wrote, “Dr. Saxena is 100 percent innocent. He has been a beloved and widely respected physician in Montgomery County for 30 years, as demonstrated by the 50 physicians, nurses and friends who were present at his bail review hearing. These allegations are utter fabrications, made 17 years after the last supposed event. It is inconceivable that so many years would have gone by without the accuser telling one physician, teacher or therapist. As the judicial process plays out, the hidden motivations for these false charges will be unmasked. Dr. Saxena’s superb reputation will be soon be vindicated.”
Rockville, Maryland-based Adventist HealthCare Shady Grove Medical Center is a 266-bed acute care facility owned by Adventist HealthCare, a healthcare delivery system headquartered in Gaithersburg, Maryland. The system owns hospitals, home health agencies and other healthcare services.
