OAKLAND COUNTY, Mich., Aug. 29 (UPI) -- A Michigan doctor convicted on sexual assault charges in 2008 is now seeking perjury charges against his accuser, lawyers say.
Dr. Labeed Nouri, 40, was jailed for more than three years in Oakland County Jail, including time spent awaiting trial, for sexually assaulting an unidentified young woman who worked in his medical practice, the Detroit Free Press reported Sunday.
Nouri and his accuser are members of the conservative Chaldean Catholic Church and the woman's virginity played a central role in the case, the newspaper said.
From the beginning, Nouri, an Iraqi immigrant, has maintained his innocence, contending the woman was lying about the assault because she had been sexually active with her boyfriend and needed an excuse for no longer being a virgin in the Chaldean community.
Prosecutors learned in April the woman and her boyfriend allegedly lied in court when they said she was a virgin, which was a central issue in the case and fabricated a letter said to be from the woman's priest.
The woman's boyfriend allegedly felt so guilty about lying that he agreed to record a conversation with the woman, during which she admits to lying and encourages the boyfriend to continue to lie about their sexual history.
"We moved heaven and Earth to get him out immediately when we learned of this," said Oakland County prosecutor Jessica Cooper.
The prosecution offered Nouri a deal: If he pleaded to a misdemeanor assault charge, he could be free within hours with no probation-reporting and no restrictions on obtaining his medical license.
"I'm thinking, 'No, I didn't do anything,'" he recalled in a recent interview, as his wife wiped away tears. "But then I think, 'I take this and I can see my kids in a day or two.' I hadn't seen them in three years. I took it."
Now, Nouri, released in April and back to work as an orthopedic surgeon, is looking to get his accuser charged with perjury.
"She took three years from me," he said. "I can never get them back. My youngest daughter was a baby when I went away. I never saw her first step, heard her say her first word. It's my turn for justice."
