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Police: Doctor kept 1,300 explicit photos of patients on his phone

“The photos were of numerous females in an exam room. The females were either completely nude or partially nude. Some of the photos were female's vaginas, breasts and buttocks."

By Matt Bradwell

EL CAJON, Calif., Oct. 22 (UPI) -- A San Diego-area doctor at low-income clinic has taken a leave of absence after authorities discovered over 1,300 photos of patients nude or partially nude on his cellphone and at least one patient accused him of physical sexual harassment.

Dr. Jeffrey Abrams of Volunteers in Medicine is also being investigated for sexual penetration of an unconscious person and sexual battery of an unconscious person, but thus far no charges have been filed.

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The patient accusing Abrams of sexual harassment says in January 2014, while visiting the clinic complaining of pain in her navel, Abrams needlessly inserted his finer into her vagina and took five photos of her naked body on his cellphone.

"My client was sexually harassed, she was sexually assaulted," Jessica Pride, attorney for the victim, told CBS San Diego.

"She went there for medical services and unfortunately she had naked pictures taken of her without her consent and now she is emotionally traumatized."

Upon learning of the additional accusations and recovered photographs, Pride told NBC San Diego, "We were both surprised to hear that she was not the only one."

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"We recently became aware of an investigation of one of our volunteer medical providers," Volunteers in Medicine CEO Maureen Hartin said in a statement to CBS San Diego.

"Our clinic and staff have cooperated fully with the California Medical Board investigators. Once we were informed, the doctor was put on an immediate leave of absence. While very troubling these allegations are to our free medical clinic, they certainly are not a reflection of the outstanding work that over 100 volunteers who care for our patients on a daily basis."

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